Apple sues OpenAI, accuses ex-employees of stealing trade secrets

Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging two former employees—Tang Tan and Chang Liu—took confidential information about unreleased technologies, processes, and products to OpenAI. Tan was VP of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch, left in Feb 2024, and later joined Jony Ive's startup io Products. Liu was a senior system electrical engineer at Apple for eight years and moved to OpenAI in Jan 2026. OpenAI acquired io Products last year for $6.5 billion, and Ive now leads OpenAI's hardware efforts. Apple says 'significant evidence' has emerged, but the filing does not detail which specific technologies were taken or when the alleged theft occurred.

Why it matters: Apple sues OpenAI for trade secret theft, naming former VP Tang Tan and senior engineer Chang Liu. High conflict level with concrete details. Score held back because only one source so far and full court filing details aren't public yet.