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Apple sues OpenAI over trade secrets tied to hardware plans

Apple sues OpenAI over trade secrets tied to hardware plans

OpenAI is seeking dismissal of Apple's trade secrets case as Apple pushes for testimony from former employees and preserves evidence in a widening dispute over hardware hiring and AI devices.

Fact Check
Every element of the claim is corroborated by primary and official sources. Reuters and Fortune confirm Apple's July 10, 2026 lawsuit alleging trade-secret misappropriation tied to OpenAI's consumer hardware ambitions, naming Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu. OpenAI's own official August 3, 2026 post 'Apple is getting this wrong' explicitly denies possessing/wanting Apple trade secrets, disputes the conspiracy allegations involving Tan and Liu, and states Apple sued without properly raising the specific allegations first (consistent with 'rushed to court after failed pre-suit talks'). The claim is accurate.
Summary

OpenAI has asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, denying that it used confidential Apple information to advance its consumer hardware push and saying it is building products distinct from the iPhone maker's. The filing keeps alive a dispute that has soured a 2024 partnership that brought ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence, even as the companies compete for hardware talent. Apple sued in July, then sent preservation notices to roughly 40 former employees now at OpenAI and asked the court to compel depositions from former employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI's Yu-Ting Peng and another ex-Apple employee at the company. Apple alleges former staff took confidential hardware, supply-chain and unreleased product information; OpenAI says it has no use for Apple's trade secrets and characterizes its hiring as ordinary recruitment. The fight has expanded alongside OpenAI's hardware buildout, which now includes former Apple executives Jony Ive, Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, as well as Apple's Vision Pro hardware chief, Paul Meade, who left in June. OpenAI's response to Apple's injunction request is due by August 17, with a hearing set for October 1 in San Jose.

Terms & Concepts
  • trade secrets: Confidential business information that has economic value because it is not public.
  • depositions: Out-of-court witness testimony taken under oath as part of the evidence-gathering process in a lawsuit.
  • preservation notices: Legal notices instructing recipients to keep potentially relevant documents, messages and other evidence intact.