Apple has sued OpenAI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets to develop its own consumer hardware products. The lawsuit was filed on Friday, July 10, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, opening a dramatic confrontation between two giants that have worked side by side for the past two years, with ChatGPT built into the iPhone’s operating system.
«At every level, from technical staff to the chief hardware officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has misappropriated Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,» Cupertino’s complaint states.
At the center of the accusation is Tang Tan, OpenAI’s head of hardware and, for nearly 25 years, an Apple executive who led the design of the iPhone and Apple Watch before leaving the company in February 2024.
According to Apple, Tan asked candidates who were still working at Cupertino and interviewing with OpenAI to bring real components — including batteries, logic boards and modules — to «show and tell» sessions designed to extract confidential information. He is also alleged to have used code names for unannounced internal Apple projects to ask candidates directly «what’s the plan» during interviews. According to the complaint, he then circulated among new hires an internal Apple document titled «Need to Know», which detailed the security procedures applied to departing employees, in order to teach them how to evade the checks carried out when staff resign.
The lawsuit also names Chang Liu, an electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple before moving to OpenAI in January 2026. According to the complaint, Liu failed to return his company laptop and exploited an authentication vulnerability to access a former colleague’s shared network folders, downloading dozens of confidential documents covering unannounced products, technical presentations and design specifications.
Apple further accuses OpenAI of using the stolen information to approach Apple’s own contract suppliers, persuading one of them to carry out a proprietary metal-finishing technique by falsely leading it to believe it had Apple’s authorization.
What Cupertino is demanding
Apple is seeking a jury trial, an injunction ordering OpenAI to immediately stop using the misappropriated information, the return of all improperly obtained material, and a redesign of OpenAI’s upcoming products so that they contain no Apple technology. The complaint also includes breach-of-contract claims against Tan and Liu, both of whom had signed confidentiality agreements with Apple.
Apple says it sent a letter to OpenAI as early as February 2026 flagging its suspicions, but received no response from the AI company. An OpenAI spokesperson said the company has no interest in the trade secrets of other businesses and remains focused on developing innovative technology that empowers people around the world.
The lawsuit lands at a delicate moment for OpenAI, which is preparing for what is expected to be one of the most closely watched public listings in recent Silicon Valley history.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Alessandro Nuzzo on July 11, 2026 as «È guerra tra Apple e OpenAI. Furto di segreti commerciali, Cook gli fa causa». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
