Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Theft of Trade Secrets for Rival AI Device

Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging a systematic pattern of theft of confidential information and trade secrets tied to unreleased products, in a case that could complicate the AI company's ambitions to build a hardware challenger to the iPhone. The complaint, filed July 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, also names OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, technical staffer Chang Liu, and OpenAI's hardware unit io Products as defendants.