Apple sues OpenAI, Jony Ive startup over stolen hardware secrets
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- Apple sued OpenAI, IO Products (Jony Ive's hardware startup acquired by OpenAI in 2025), and two named former employees — chief hardware officer Tang Tan and Chang Liu — alleging a "pattern of theft" of trade secrets tied to unreleased hardware
- Chang Liu allegedly accessed Apple's systems after leaving and downloaded "dozens" of confidential hardware-related files, then instructed a former Apple colleague to copy confidential files and communicate over Line Messenger to avoid detection
- Tang Tan allegedly emailed himself information about Apple suppliers before departing and solicited confidential Apple information when interviewing Apple employees for OpenAI roles
- OpenAI allegedly told departing Apple staffers to bring "CAD/design artifacts" and "prototypes" to interviews and advised them to alert OpenAI if Apple asked them to sign anything
- More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, per the complaint; Apple says it raised concerns with OpenAI in February and received no response
- OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told The Verge: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets," while the lawsuit casts doubt on OpenAI's first hardware product, expected next year, calling that business "rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets"
Why it matters: With OpenAI's first hardware product slated for next year and 400-plus former Apple employees now on its payroll, Apple is effectively arguing in court that OpenAI's consumer hardware ambitions were built on Apple's R&D — and the complaint explicitly questions whether OpenAI can ship without that foundation, putting OpenAI's hardware roadmap directly in litigation crosshairs.
