OpenAI has denied Apple's allegations of trade secret theft

Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The iPhone maker has accused the developer of ChatGPT of misappropriating trade secrets and confidential information used in the development of consumer devices.

The Essence of the Claims

Apple’s main allegations involve former employees who joined OpenAI. These include:

• Tang Tan—Apple’s former vice president of hardware;
• Chang Liu — an engineer who also joined OpenAI.

Apple alleges that the former employees misappropriated confidential information and used it to advance OpenAI’s hardware projects. The lawsuit describes what Apple calls a “system of trade secret theft” by OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple. According to the plaintiff, such behavior “is standard practice and encouraged by OpenAI’s management.”

Furthermore, Apple claims that during job interviews, OpenAI encouraged candidates to bring Apple device prototypes and components and to disclose details about unreleased products and manufacturing processes.

OpenAI’s Response

OpenAI’s Director of Strategic Communications, Drew Pusateri, posted a response on the social media platform X on behalf of the company:

> “We are not interested in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on creating innovative technologies that empower people around the world.”

Previous Legal Proceedings

This is not the first legal dispute surrounding OpenAI’s hardware projects, which are being developed in collaboration with the startup IO Products, led by former Apple designer Jony Ive. Previously, the startup iyO filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and IO Products over their use of certain branding, and in March 2026, it expanded the complaint to include allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets.

Source: 3DNews: