Apple’s trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI describes a hiring process in which applicants allegedly brought Apple hardware to interviews, and an engineer who allegedly continued downloading Apple documents after joining OpenAI.
Filed on July 10, 2026, in federal court in Northern California, the complaint names former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, alongside OpenAI entities and io Products. Apple says Liu downloaded dozens of confidential files after leaving, including more than a thousand pages of technical material. Among them, it says, was a presentation describing how Apple manufactures and tests complex circuit boards.
Apple also alleges that Tan asked candidates to bring physical components and prototypes to job interviews. The company is seeking damages and court orders preventing possession, use or disclosure of its confidential information. These are allegations in Apple’s complaint; OpenAI contests them.
In an August 3 response, OpenAI said Apple employees had asked Liu to help them find information after his departure. It published messages that it said supported that account. The company also said Tan had instructed his team to avoid using confidential information belonging to other companies.
“We do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” OpenAI said. Its response challenged Apple’s description of earlier contact between the companies, saying Apple’s lawyers initially emailed the wrong person and had not raised the specific allegations before filing suit.
A hardware project alongside an existing partnership
OpenAI’s hardware team includes several people identified in the companies’ own announcements. In May 2025, Sam Altman and Jony Ive announced plans to combine OpenAI with io, which Ive had founded with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tan. A July 9 update said io’s team had joined OpenAI. Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, would remain independent while taking on design responsibilities across OpenAI.
Apple had already arranged to use OpenAI’s software. Its June 2024 announcement described Siri asking permission before sending a question, document or photograph to ChatGPT. Users could receive answers without creating a ChatGPT account. For those requests, Apple said OpenAI would not store the questions and would obscure users’ internet addresses.
For requests made through a linked ChatGPT account, Apple said OpenAI’s data-use policies would apply.
OpenAI published its motion to dismiss on August 6, followed on September 1 by its opposition to Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction. Both filings are linked from its public response.
