Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft Directed by Senior Leadership

Apple escalated its tensions with OpenAI into open legal warfare on July 10, filing a lawsuit that accuses the AI company’s senior leadership of orchestrating systematic theft of Apple’s trade secrets.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, focuses on a former Apple employee identified as Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple and served as vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch before joining OpenAI. Apple alleges that Tan used Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asked job candidates to bring Apple hardware components to interviews, and coached departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures.

A second former employee, Liu, is also accused of sharing Apple’s confidential information with other Apple employees applying for jobs at OpenAI, advising at least one of them on what to study before their interview.

Apple said it sent a letter to OpenAI in February raising its concerns but received no response. The company alleges that the behavior of these former employees is part of a broader OpenAI strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information, which included asking Apple employees to bring designs and prototypes to interviews and answer questions about component and vendor selection processes.

The lawsuit further alleges that Apple’s ongoing investigation revealed OpenAI and its partners have already used Apple’s confidential information while developing their own hardware products. The filing specifically references a proprietary metal finishing technique that OpenAI allegedly used after misleading a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission.

Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the return of all confidential Apple materials, and preserve evidence related to the case. The filing states: “This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership.”

The lawsuit represents a dramatic deterioration of relations between the two tech giants. Apple and OpenAI had previously collaborated on AI features, but the complaint reveals growing friction as OpenAI accelerates its own hardware development efforts.

Key developments to watch include whether the court issues a preliminary injunction during proceedings and how this affects OpenAI’s hardware roadmap. The case could also prompt broader industry scrutiny of intellectual property risks in executive recruiting.