Apple Sues OpenAI Over Stolen Hardware Secrets — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Apple filed a 41-page lawsuit alleging OpenAI orchestrated a scheme to steal confidential hardware designs and bypass security protocols using departing Apple employees.
- Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran and former Apple Watch VP, is accused of soliciting unreleased product components during job interviews and requesting 'show and tell' sessions with Apple hardware.
- Chang Liu, a former Apple systems electrical engineer, allegedly retained an Apple-owned computer and exploited a network vulnerability to access and download dozens of confidential files after leaving the company.
- Yu-Ting 'Alyssa' Peng, another ex-Apple employee who joined OpenAI, is accused of funneling proprietary project details to Liu while still employed at Apple, informing his work on OpenAI’s competing hardware.
- OpenAI is alleged to have coached Apple job candidates on evading offboarding procedures, including not signing exit documents and hiding their destination employer to avoid immediate termination.
- Apple claims OpenAI used stolen information to approach its trusted manufacturing partners, falsely claiming authorization to use Apple’s proprietary metal-finishing technique for its own hardware development.
Why it matters: If proven, OpenAI’s alleged actions could derail its hardware ambitions and expose it to massive liability, while Apple faces tangible erosion of its core advantage—hardware secrecy—just as competition in AI-integrated devices intensifies. The case turns on whether OpenAI systematically exploited employee transitions to gain unfair advantage.
Ask SkimNews
