Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in a federal court in California, alleging a months-long scheme to steal confidential information for AI hardware development. The lawsuit has significant implications for OpenAI's plans to develop its own consumer hardware device and could potentially delay its highly anticipated initial public offering.
Two former Apple employees, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu, are named in the lawsuit for their alleged roles in the trade secret theft. Tan is accused of using confidential project code names to probe candidates about unreleased Apple products, while Liu is accused of downloading over a thousand pages of confidential files after leaving Apple.
The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction barring OpenAI from using Apple's confidential information. OpenAI is valued at roughly $852 billion and has raised more than $180 billion from investors. The company's plans to develop its own consumer hardware device could be affected by the lawsuit, which could also delay its initial public offering.
The lawsuit is the latest development in a saga that began in 2024, when Apple and OpenAI entered into a partnership to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone's operating system. In 2025, OpenAI acquired io Products, a company co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, for roughly $6.5 billion. In February 2026, Apple contacted OpenAI with concerns about trade secret theft, but received no response.
The lawsuit could have significant implications for the tech industry and investors, and its outcome is uncertain. As the case moves forward, one key question is what specific trade secrets Apple alleges OpenAI stole, and how the lawsuit will affect OpenAI's plans to develop its own consumer hardware device. The lawsuit highlights the increasing competition in the tech industry, particularly in the field of AI development, and the importance of protecting trade secrets in this competitive landscape.