Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging that two former employees brought trade secrets with them when they joined the AI startup.
The lawsuit names Tang Tan, an Apple executive who left to join OpenAI as chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, a member of the technical staff. Tan leads OpenAI’s efforts to build a new AI device.
Apple has accused Tan of emailing himself information about Apple’s suppliers and telling other Apple employees who might want to join OpenAI to bring “actual parts” from Apple for “show and tell,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Apple said Liu allegedly used a former co-worker’s work computer to access Apple’s network, downloading “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files.” He also was accused of coaching the co-worker on ways to skirt around the security team as a result.
Tan was a senior executive on Apple’s product design team who worked closely with Jony Ive, Apple’s legendary designer. He left to join io Products, Ive’s AI device startup that was acquired by OpenAI. Apple did not name Ive in the lawsuit, the Journal said.
In the lawsuit, Apple said “at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information.” However, it doesn’t know what OpenAI has done with the information.
A spokesperson for OpenAI told the Journal that “we have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
The lawsuit signals how badly the relationship between Apple and OpenAI has deteriorated. In 2024, they signed a deal to have ChatGPT power Siri, but Apple later chose Google’s Gemini instead. OpenAI has mulled sending a breach-of-contract notice to Apple but it’s unclear if it actually did.