Apple Sues OpenAI Over Ex-iPhone Engineer's Trade Secrets
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging former iPhone engineer Chang Liu stole trade secrets when he defected to OpenAI's hardware division, with Apple's complaint stating he "left with more than just years of experience."
- iClarified reports the complaint details how Liu allegedly exploited an authentication bug to access secret Apple files before his departure.
- Bloomberg highlights that OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan had a strained relationship with his former boss, Apple senior vice president John Ternus, framing the suit as the culmination of personal friction.
- Fortune's coverage adds that Jony Ive's io Products firm is also named in Apple's hardware trade secret accusations against OpenAI.
- An analyst cited by Wccftech warned the lawsuit could delay OpenAI's hardware ambitions "even if the allegations are not proven."
- OpenAI director of communications Drew Pusateri publicly responded with a two-word statement — "No Interest" — captured by Daring Fireball.
Why it matters: Apple's complaint weaponizes an authentication vulnerability, not just a resume grab, meaning Liu's alleged method is now on the public record and could pressure every company reviewing departing engineers' access logs. Per one analyst's note reported by Wccftech, even an unproven suit can stall OpenAI's hardware push — putting timelines on its consumer-devices roadmap at risk.
