Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the maker of ChatGPT of stealing closely guarded secrets about its hardware designs and future products.
The case was filed on Friday, 10 July 2026, at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple said it had written to OpenAI in February raising concerns but received no response.
At the centre of the dispute are two former Apple staff. Tang Tan, now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, spent 24 years at Apple and was most recently vice-president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Chang Liu, a senior systems electrical engineer of eight years, is accused of failing to return an Apple laptop and downloading confidential technical documents before joining OpenAI.
Apple alleges the misconduct ran deep, claiming OpenAI used confidential project code names during recruiting, asked job candidates to bring Apple components and prototypes to interviews, and coached departing employees on how to evade Apple’s security. In its complaint, Apple said: “This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s behind closed doors at OpenAI.”
The filing also names Jony Ive, Apple’s celebrated former designer, though he is not personally accused of wrongdoing. OpenAI acquired his design firm, io, for $6.5 billion in May 2025. Apple says OpenAI now employs more than 400 of its former workers.
OpenAI rejected the claims, stating simply: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.” No court has ruled that any party did anything wrong.
The stakes are high because OpenAI is rumoured to be developing its own hardware — possibly an AI-powered device that could rival the iPhone — which explains why Apple is fighting so hard to protect its designs.
Source: TechCrunch.
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