Apple accuses OpenAI of pilfering hardware secrets in lawsuit

Apple has filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of a pattern of misappropriating Apple’s trade secrets to boost its hardware efforts, naming IO Products (Jony Ive’s startup bought by OpenAI in 2025) and two former Apple employees, Tang Tan and Chang Liu. The suit alleges Liu accessed Apple systems after leaving, downloaded confidential hardware files and technical data, and instructed a former colleague on copying information, while Tan allegedly emailed himself supplier details and pressed for confidential data during interviews. Apple says OpenAI’s nascent hardware business rests on stolen secrets and has targeted Apple’s partner network; OpenAI has denied the accusations, after Apple says it reached out in February with no reply, and OpenAI later issued a statement. OpenAI’s first hardware product is expected next year.