Apple Sues OpenAI Over Claims Of Stolen Trade Secrets

Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the company stole trade secrets. Apple alleges that some of its former employees stole trade secrets before handing them to OpenAI.

The lawsuit specifically names Chang Liu and Tang Tan as the two defendants. Tan was the VP of product design at Apple and was in charge of iPhone and Apple Watch designs.

Liu was a senior system electrical engineer. Apple’s lawsuit also names OpenAI itself as a co-defendant.

It’s argued that OpenAI has been using Apple’s trade secrets in its attempts to build new hardware. A team led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive has been working on the project after OpenAI bought Ive’s startup for $6.5 billion in 2025.

In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple said that it would take appropriate steps to defend the work of its teams.

“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously. Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”

This lawsuit comes at a time when OpenAI is said to be readying a lawsuit of its own. Apple and OpenAI signed a deal to use ChatGPT to bolster Siri’s abilities, but the partnership is said to have broken down.