{"id":486,"date":"2026-07-10T22:12:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T22:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486"},"modified":"2026-07-10T22:12:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T22:12:38","slug":"apple-sues-openai-two-former-employees-for-trade-secrets-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486","title":{"rendered":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By Stephen Nellis, Deepa Seetharaman and Jaspreet Singh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

July 10 (Reuters) – Apple on Friday sued \u2060OpenAI \u2060and two former employees, alleging misappropriation of \u2060its trade secrets to benefit the ChatGPT-owner’s foray into consumer hardware, in a dramatic escalation of already \u200bsimmering tension between the two companies.<\/p>\n

Read more Family Demands Answers in Death of Young Black Man in Mississippi<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges a coordinated effort to steal Apple’s confidential \u200cinformation, including product designs, manufacturing processes and \u200csupply chain strategies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The lawsuit was filed against Chang Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer, and \u2060former Vice President \u2060of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch Tang Yew Tan, as well as OpenAI Foundation, \u200bOpenAI Group PBC and io Products. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Apple alleged that Liu failed to return a company-issued work laptop and later used an authentication bug to access Apple’s internal network, downloading “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The iPhone maker also claimed that OpenAI\u2019s hardware chief Tan had been “methodically using Apple\u2019s \u200bconfidential information to benefit OpenAI” by emailing himself information about Apple suppliers and internal industry summaries before his departure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Apple alleged that Tan \u2060encouraged Apple \u2060employees to bring parts from Apple \u2060to job interviews at \u200bOpenAI for \u201cshow and tell\u201d sessions, citing an incident in its filing where one OpenAI job candidate allegedly said that he \u201cdidn\u2019t even know \u200bwe could take those from the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

More \u2060than 400 former Apple employees now work for OpenAI, Apple said in the filing, saying that \u201cit is not surprising\u201d that some of them have knowledge of its confidential information.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cThat OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple\u2019s trade secrets does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts,\u201d the iPhone maker wrote in its complaint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Apple also alleged that OpenAI employees sought confidential information from Apple suppliers, at one point allegedly \u2060having one of those suppliers carry out what Apple called a secret metal finishing technique on the belief that \u2060OpenAI had Apple\u2019s permission to use the technique.<\/p>\n

Read more US FDA Approves Sanofi\u2019s Wearable Injector Form of Blood Cancer Drug<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

OpenAI bought hardware startup io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, last year in a $6.5 billion deal, in a push to move beyond software into consumer hardware. Ive is not named in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

TENSIONS BREWED FOR MONTHS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Tensions between the two tech companies have strained their relationship, as the race to develop AI products has intensified competition for talent and proprietary technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In its complaint, Apple claimed it wrote to OpenAI in February with concerns that its confidential information was making its way to OpenAI, asking to discuss the matter, but received no reply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters in May that OpenAI was exploring legal options against Apple, including notifying the technology giant of a breach of contract but potentially \u2060not filing a full lawsuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In 2024, Apple announced the integration of its “Apple Intelligence” technology across its apps including Siri and brought OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT to its devices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Their partnership allows users to access ChatGPT results through Siri, while iPhone users can also sign up for ChatGPT memberships directly from the iOS settings menu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Apple rolled out a long-delayed overhaul of Siri last month. The update comes \u200btwo years after Apple first promised major upgrades that were repeatedly delayed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Stephen \u200bNellis and Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; Editing by Maju Samuel)<\/p>\n

Read more Platner Is Out in Maine. What\u2019s Next for Democrats?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[85,60],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\nApple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"headline\":\"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"artificial intelligence\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486\",\"name\":\"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: A person points to an iPhone during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2025. REUTERS\\\/Manuel Orbegozo \\\/File Photo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=486#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office Moving America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America","og_description":"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.","og_url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486","og_site_name":"Office Moving America","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"headline":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft","datePublished":"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486"},"wordCount":639,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg","keywords":["artificial intelligence","United States"],"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486","name":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft - Office Moving America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-10T22:12:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4c8d43a358032c17764c56a9f6b41063.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: A person points to an iPhone during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2025. REUTERS\/Manuel Orbegozo \/File Photo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=486#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Apple Sues OpenAI, Two Former Employees for Trade Secrets Theft"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/","name":"Office Moving America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/officemovingamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}