Apple sues OpenAI

Technology Newsletter Apple sues OpenAI Comments: by Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro - 07/10/26 6:57 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro - 07/10/26 6:57 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The Big Story

Apple takes OpenAI to court

Apple is suing OpenAI, accusing the major AI firm and industry partner of attempting to access and steal confidential information about their tools, processes and unreleased products through job interviews with their employees.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in a California federal court, accuses OpenAI and two former employees of stealing Apple’s confidential information and handing it over to the ChatGPT maker when they joined the company.

The former employees include Tang Yew Tan, a 24-year veteran of Apple who served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch before joining OpenAI as its chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, who is now at OpenAI after spending eight years as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple.

OpenAI “has been instructing” Apple employees to bring proprietary information like design prototypes, tools, or communications with vendors to interviews to “divulge” details about their work, attorneys for Apple wrote Friday.

“Apple does not bring this action lightly. Apple operates in the most competitive markets in the world and focuses on creating and shipping the very best products and services that embody its innovations,” Apple’s legal team said in the filing.

“But it cannot tolerate the theft of its trade secrets. In light of the troubling evidence it has seen so far, Apple is left with no choice.”

As a result of the alleged theft, Apple’s attorneys argue OpenAI’s hardware business “now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”

An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement that it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” adding, “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

The suit comes amid growing tensions between the two technology giants, which first partnered in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into Apple’s devices.

Reports emerged in May that their partnership has strained and OpenAI was considering legal action over failing to get the expected benefits from the deal.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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