Apple filed suit Friday. OpenAI and its hardware head, Tang Tan, are accused of stealing trade secrets. Not just ideas. Actual parts. Unreleased prototypes. Confidential designs. Stealth project docs. It is serious stuff.
Tan spent 24 years at the Apple. He oversaw iPhone design. Now he is the chief hardware officer at OpenAI. The lawsuit claims he told leaving Apple staff to take proprietary tech with them. He supposedly coached them on beating data security. Told them to bring Apple parts to OpenAI job interviews. For “show and tell.”
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business… rests on the shakiest foundations… rotten to its core.”
Apple filed this in San Jose US District Court. They say OpenAI took unlawful shortcuts. Under pressure. Trying to rush a commercial hardware product to market.
OpenAI pushes back. Drew Pusateri says they have zero interest in others’ trade secrets. “We remain focused on building innovative tech,” he says. Tang Tan has not commented yet. Hannah Smith, an Apple spokesperson, says the company defends its teams. “Always,” she adds. Taking appropriate steps.
This feels like history repeating itself. Waymo vs. Uber. 2017. Former Uber engineers allegedly walked out with Waymo files. Uber paid $245 million mid-trial to settle. Now Apple vs. OpenAI. Maybe bigger stakes. Silicon Valley drama loves a good theft ring narrative.
Remember, Apple and OpenAI were friends. Since 2024. ChatGPT landed on iPhones, Macs, iPads. Big deal. Then the bond frayed. Apple looked elsewhere. Google’s Gemini. Now they might fight over AI devices. Competitors soon.
Over 400 Apple veterans moved to OpenAI, according to the suit. Many lead their new AI hardware dev. OpenAI paid $6.5B last year for io Products. Co-founded by Tan, Scott Cannon, Jony Ive, and Evans Hankey. That acquisition brought in deep Apple knowledge. Or stolen secrets?
io Products and Chang Liu are named too. Liu, an ex-Apple electrical engineer. He stayed on systems until January. Left his company laptop. Never returned it. Apple noticed he could still access their internal file share. A bug allowed it. Fixed now, presumably.
Liu downloaded files. Dozens. Hardware stuff. Manufacturing tests. Complex circuit boards. He allegedly coached recruits on avoiding security trouble when copying files. How sneaky. Or careless? Apple emailed OpenAI in Feb. No response. So they investigated more. Sued.
Tan emailed himself supplier info before quitting. Others did too. The suit says Tan told current Apple staff to bring actual components to interviews. Batteries. Logic boards. Shields. He wanted to see them. Touch them? One employee even screenshot a secret project hours before talking to Tan.
Worse yet, Tan supposedly had a manager doc. Explaining security for departees. He used it to tell leavers how to dodge disclosure rules. Stay in the system longer. Ignore exit checks. Avoid signing paperwork.
“Concerning recent pattern,” the lawsuit calls it. People leave Apple, ignore security, go to OpenAI. Two-week notice? Gone. Security reviews? Avoided.
The theft goes to suppliers. Apple claims OpenAI contacted vendors Apple already worked with. Asked for that metal-finishing technique. Made them think Apple approved the project. One did the work. Another got questioned on batteries. Targeted questions. Just to learn.
OpenAI stays quiet on the hardware front. Calls it a “family” of AI devices. The “io” name? Dead. New name coming. Nothing ships before April 2027, maybe later. Reports say a voice-controlled tabletop puck. Is it innovation or imitation? Who knows?
Apple wants an injunction. Stop the theft. Money damages too. Get the stuff back. Data, files, parts. Return it all.
Update: 7/10/6 6:55pm ET. OpenAI commented. We added it above.
