Apple Sues OpenAI, Alleging Coordinated Theft of Hardware Trade Secrets by Former Employees

Apple has filed a federal lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two of its former engineers of orchestrating a systematic theft of confidential hardware designs, the most direct legal clash yet between the iPhone maker and the AI company as OpenAI pushes into consumer devices. The complaint, lodged on July 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, names OpenAI's corporate entities, former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, and io Products, LLC—a hardware venture acquired by OpenAI—as defendants, citing misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. (TechCrunch, complaint)