Apple Accuses OpenAI and Jony Ive Firm of Trade Secret Theft

Apple accuses OpenAI of building its hardware ambitions on stolen trade secrets, a claim that lands as an unusually direct legal broadside from a $4.6 trillion company against a startup it once partnered with on AI. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the Northern District of California, names OpenAI, two former Apple employees, and io Products as defendants.

The 41 page complaint alleges a pattern of coordinated data theft reaching from rank and file engineers up to OpenAI's chief hardware officer. Apple wants an injunction, monetary damages, and declaratory judgments to halt what it calls ongoing misappropriation.

In Brief

• Apple filed suit against OpenAI, io Products, and two former Apple staffers over alleged trade secret theft.
• Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a 24 year Apple veteran, is accused of using Apple codenames in recruiting and directing candidates to bring Apple parts to interviews.
• Chang Liu, an OpenAI technical staffer, allegedly downloaded confidential hardware files and coached an Apple employee on evading internal security checks.
• OpenAI acquired io Products, cofounded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion in May 2025.
• OpenAI denies wrongdoing, saying it has no interest in other companies' trade secrets.

What Apple's Complaint Against OpenAI Actually Alleges

The core of Apple's case rests on two named individuals. Tang Tan spent roughly 24 years at Apple, climbing from product designer to vice president overseeing iPhone and Apple Watch design before leaving for io Products in 2024. Apple says Tan used internal codenames during OpenAI recruiting pitches, pushed interviewers to disclose confidential product details, and told candidates to physically bring Apple hardware components into interview rooms.

Chang Liu, described in the filing as a member of OpenAI's technical staff, allegedly pulled dozens of confidential files covering technical specifications, engineering presentations, and data on unreleased products. Apple also claims Liu instructed a current Apple employee on how to move files past the company's security monitoring, and that OpenAI used inside knowledge of Apple's supplier network and internal terminology to approach Apple's own supply chain contacts directly.

Why the Ive Connection Matters

Io Products, the hardware design firm Ive cofounded, was folded into OpenAI last year in a $6.4 billion acquisition, giving the AI company direct access to talent and processes shaped inside Apple's design organization for years. Ive himself is not named as a defendant, but the lawsuit frames io Products' entire hardware effort as compromised, calling OpenAI's business