Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets, Seeks Hardware Injunction

Apple sued OpenAI, io Products, Tang Yew Tan, and Chang Liu in federal court in San Jose, California. Apple seeks damages and an order blocking the defendants from possessing or using alleged trade secrets. The immediate forward-looking question is whether Apple can obtain an injunction capable of disrupting OpenAI’s hardware work before a product launch.
Those are the verified facts at the center of the dispute. The rest remains contested. Apple alleges that former employees took confidential information for OpenAI’s benefit, while OpenAI has publicly denied having any interest in other companies’ trade secrets. No court has determined that the defendants misappropriated or used Apple’s protected information, and the evidence needed to resolve those claims has not yet been tested through the litigation process.

Apple Is Attacking the Foundation, Not Just the Product​

Apple’s complaint describes OpenAI’s emerging hardware business as resting on “the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” That is Apple’s characterization, not a judicial finding, but it identifies the company’s central theory: the alleged problem is not merely possession of isolated information but possible contamination of a developing hardware program.
Apple states its theory in similarly direct language: “This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI.” It then summarizes the purpose of the lawsuit: “Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.”
The requested injunction is therefore at least as important as the demand for damages. Compensation would address harm Apple says has already occurred. An injunction could impose prospective restrictions on possession, disclosure, or use of information that the court determines is likely to qualify as a trade secret.
The practical effect of any order would depend entirely on its wording. A narrowly drawn order might require specified materials to be returned, deleted, preserved, or placed beyond the reach of particular employees. A broader order could affect work that Apple persuades the court was developed through the use of protected information. The filing of a complaint alone does not impose either result.
Apple must identify the information it claims to own, explain why it is legally protected, and connect each defendant to acquisition, disclosure, use, or threatened use. It must also satisfy the additional requirements for preliminary relief if it seeks an order before trial. OpenAI and the other defendants will have opportunities to dispute Apple’s definitions, evidence, inferences, and requested remedies.
By bringing the case while OpenAI is developing consumer hardware, Apple is trying to resolve those questions before the relevant work becomes a finished product. Whether the lawsuit can actually alter a launch schedule will depend less on the complaint’s forceful language than on the evidence Apple can present early in the case.

Two Employees Anchor a Larger Institutional Claim​

The individual defendants connect Apple’s allegations to OpenAI and io Products, but their inclusion does not by itself establish institutional liability.

Defendant	Apple connection	Current connection alleged in the case	Central issue
OpenAI	Apple’s partner at the software and AI-service layer	Developing consumer hardware	Whether it received, possessed, encouraged, or used protected Apple information
io Products	Associated with former Apple design leadership and employees	Part of OpenAI’s hardware operation	Whether its work benefited from information Apple legally owns
Tang Yew Tan	Former senior Apple product-design executive	OpenAI hardware executive	Whether his conduct crossed the line between transferable expertise and Apple trade secrets
Chang Liu	Former Apple engineer	Joined OpenAI	Whether he improperly acquired, retained, disclosed, or used protected Apple information

Tang’s long Apple career makes the legal boundary especially important. Experienced employees are generally free to change jobs and apply their abilities elsewhere, subject to enforceable contractual and legal obligations. Trade-secret law does not ordinarily give a former employer ownership over a person’s general skill, judgment, professional experience, or knowledge commonly understood within an industry.
Apple must therefore do more than show that Tang knew how Apple develops hardware or that OpenAI valued his experience. It must identify information that is sufficiently specific, secret, economically valuable because of its secrecy, and subject to reasonable protective measures. It must then connect that information to conduct covered by the applicable law.
The same discipline applies to the allegations against Liu. His move from Apple to OpenAI may establish opportunity, but opportunity is not proof of acquisition or use. Apple will need reliable evidence concerning the information at issue and the actions it attributes to him. Liu may contest the alleged conduct, the status of the information, causation, or all three.
The institutional claim requires another step. Even if Apple proves that an individual acted improperly, it must establish the legal and factual basis for holding OpenAI or io Products responsible. Questions may include what the organizations knew, when they knew it, how they responded, whether anyone authorized the conduct, and whether disputed information entered or influenced their work.
Those are questions for pleadings, evidence, and judicial rulings. They should not be treated as resolved merely because Apple has placed multiple defendants in the same complaint.

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Recruitment Is a Security Boundary​

Regardless of whether Apple proves its allegations, the dispute highlights a recurring risk for technology companies: recruitment can become an uncontrolled channel for confidential information.
Interviews for technical positions often require candidates to discuss difficult projects, design decisions, operational failures, manufacturing constraints, and the methods they used to solve problems. Those discussions help an employer evaluate competence, but they also create pressure to reveal more than a candidate is entitled to share.
The distinction should be explicit. A candidate can discuss personal expertise and publicly known work without disclosing restricted documents, nonpublic specifications, source code, internal financial data, confidential product plans, proprietary test results, or physical property belonging to another organization.
Hiring managers need boundaries as well. They should not ask candidates to prove their value by supplying another company’s confidential materials. Interviewers who receive an unsolicited offer of proprietary information should stop the discussion, avoid reviewing the material, and notify the appropriate legal or compliance personnel.
These safeguards protect both sides. They reduce the risk that a candidate will violate an obligation to a current or former employer, and they help the hiring organization demonstrate that its work was developed independently.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri has said the company has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets” and remains focused on building technology that empowers people. That public statement is a denial of Apple’s broader premise, not a point-by-point litigation response. The defendants’ formal court filings will provide a clearer account of which allegations they admit, deny, or contend are legally insufficient.
OpenAI may argue that the information Apple identifies is too general, already known, independently developed, or never received or used. It may also distinguish unauthorized individual conduct from organizational policy. Apple, in turn, will need to support its theory with more than the fact that former Apple employees work on OpenAI hardware.

Offboarding Controls Matter Regardless of the Case’s Merits​

The lawsuit also provides a useful occasion to review identity, data, and device controls without assuming that any particular control failed at Apple.
Modern access rarely depends on one directory account. It can be distributed across identity providers, managed devices, cloud storage, source repositories, engineering portals, virtual private networks, messaging systems, application tokens, synchronization clients, security keys, and locally stored data.
As a result, disabling a primary account may not terminate every session or recover every copy of corporate information. A reliable departure process should reconcile human-resources records, identity revocation, asset management, data preservation, and legal obligations.
Risk can increase during the notice period, when an employee may still require broad access to complete legitimate work. Monitoring should therefore be based on established policies, proportionality, applicable law, and clearly defined security signals rather than an assumption that every departing employee is acting improperly.

Action checklist for admins​

Regardless of the case’s merits, organizations should:

• Revoke active sessions, application tokens, device certificates, remote-access credentials, and cloud permissions at the appropriate time instead of relying only on the primary directory account.
• Inventory managed laptops, phones, removable media, security keys, prototypes, test equipment, and other corporate property, then confirm return or approved containment.
• Review unusual downloads, synchronization activity, external transfers, privilege changes, printing, and repository access under a documented and legally reviewed monitoring policy.
• Preserve relevant logs and communications promptly when a credible concern arises, while respecting retention rules, privacy obligations, and litigation-hold requirements.
• Establish interview rules that prohibit candidates from presenting confidential documents, code, components, screenshots, internal metrics, or unreleased information belonging to another organization.
• Train recruiters, managers, and technical interviewers to stop and escalate a conversation when proprietary information is offered.
• Segregate questionable material rather than forwarding it through ordinary engineering or collaboration channels.
• Require new hires to confirm that they will not bring or use property or confidential information belonging to a former employer.
• Maintain records showing the independent origin of important product requirements, designs, and technical decisions.
• Coordinate legal, security, human-resources, compliance, and engineering teams instead of treating offboarding and competitive hiring as separate administrative processes.

These controls cannot eliminate every dispute. They can, however, reduce the chance that a hiring decision creates an ambiguous record about where information originated and who had access to it.

OpenAI’s Hardware Ambition Raises the Commercial Pressure​

The case is commercially significant because OpenAI is developing consumer hardware through an operation associated with prominent former Apple personnel, including Jony Ive and Tang. OpenAI has publicly indicated that consumer hardware is expected, although the precise product, feature set, and launch details have not been fully disclosed.
That timing gives Apple a reason to seek relief before the product reaches the market. It also gives the court a reason to demand precision. An order entered during active development could impose substantial costs even before the underlying claims are resolved, so Apple will need to connect its requested restrictions to identifiable information and a legally cognizable risk of harm.
Hardware development can make provenance questions particularly complicated. Product decisions frequently combine employee experience, public knowledge, supplier capabilities, original experimentation, standard engineering practice, and company-specific research. A design may pass through many iterations before it becomes commercially viable.
OpenAI may try to demonstrate that its work arose from independent design processes, public or licensed information, and the lawful expertise of its employees. Documentation created before particular hires or before the alleged receipt of disputed information could be important to that defense.
Apple may attempt to show that protected information entered the development process and influenced decisions in ways that cannot be remedied by deleting a file. But that conclusion cannot be assumed. It must be established through evidence linking specific protected information to specific conduct and, where relevant, specific work.
A successful OpenAI device could have competitive implications for Apple if it creates a new way for consumers to interact with AI outside conventional phone and computer interfaces. It could also remain complementary to existing devices or occupy a narrower category. Without a fully revealed product and market evidence, claims that it will displace the iPhone or transfer control of customer relationships to OpenAI are speculative.
The narrower and more immediate question is whether OpenAI can show that its hardware program has a lawful, independently documented origin. That is the point on which legal risk and product execution may intersect.

Apple and OpenAI Are Partners at One Layer and Potential Rivals at Another​

Apple and OpenAI partnered to make ChatGPT available through Apple’s software ecosystem. That arrangement reflects complementary interests: Apple can offer access to an external generative-AI service, while OpenAI can reach users through widely adopted consumer devices.
The hardware initiative introduces a different possibility. OpenAI may eventually create a device that complements Apple products, competes with some of them, or opens a category that does not map neatly onto existing phones, tablets, and computers. The available facts do not establish which outcome is most likely.
The lawsuit nevertheless shows how quickly a partnership can become more complicated when one party expands into another’s core market. Apple’s hardware advantage depends not only on visible industrial design but also on accumulated engineering practices, integration decisions, production experience, and disciplined protection of genuinely confidential information.
OpenAI is entitled to hire experienced employees and compete in hardware. It is not entitled to acquire or use Apple trade secrets. Apple, conversely, is entitled to protect information that meets the legal definition of a trade secret, but it cannot use that label to prevent former employees from applying their general abilities or to block lawful competition.
The litigation will test where that boundary lies in this case.

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The Case Will Turn on Provenance, Not Corporate Rhetoric​

Apple’s language is forceful, but rhetoric will not decide the dispute. The central issue is provenance: whether particular OpenAI hardware work came from lawful independent development and employee expertise or from information that Apple can prove was protected and improperly acquired, disclosed, or used.
Possession and use are related but distinct questions. Evidence that a defendant received a confidential document could support one part of Apple’s case, but it would not automatically prove that the information shaped a product. Conversely, evidence that protected information appeared in a requirement, design decision, or technical discussion could be significant even if the original document was no longer present.
Timing may be important. If OpenAI can show that a challenged idea or requirement was documented before the person associated with the alleged disclosure joined the project, that could weaken Apple’s account. If Apple can show that a distinctive piece of protected information appeared shortly after an alleged transfer, with no credible independent explanation, that could strengthen it.
The legal distinction between a former employee’s memory and an employer’s protected information will also be central. Tang’s experience may be exceptionally valuable, but value alone does not make it Apple’s property. The court will need to distinguish general professional knowledge from information that is specific enough to be identified and legally protected.
Apple will therefore need to identify the alleged trade secrets with enough precision to allow the defendants to understand the claims and prepare a defense, while avoiding unnecessary public disclosure of the very information it says is secret. Courts commonly manage that tension through sealed filings, protective orders, limited disclosure, and staged identification procedures, but the exact approach remains for the judge to determine.
OpenAI will then have opportunities to challenge whether the identified information was actually secret, whether Apple took reasonable measures to protect it, whether it had independent economic value, and whether any defendant improperly acquired or used it. General descriptions such as “hardware expertise,” “design knowledge,” or “manufacturing experience” may not be sufficient without more particularized proof.
Causation will be equally important. Even if Apple proves improper acquisition, the scope of relief may depend on whether the information was shared, retained, incorporated, or likely to be used. An injunction must be connected to a demonstrated or sufficiently imminent legal harm; it is not supposed to operate as a general prohibition on competition.
That makes documentation valuable to both sides. Contemporaneous records can support an independent-development defense, establish when an idea originated, show who had access to information, or reveal how an organization responded after learning of a potential problem. The absence of records may create disputes, but it does not automatically prove either side’s theory.

What Happens Next​

The following are procedural possibilities, not predicted outcomes. The sequence and timing will depend on the defendants’ responses, Apple’s requests, the assigned judge, and any negotiated agreements among the parties.

OpenAI and the other defendants respond​

The defendants may answer the complaint, move to dismiss some or all claims, challenge the sufficiency of Apple’s trade-secret identification, or combine several procedural responses. Their filings should clarify which factual allegations are disputed and which legal defenses they intend to emphasize.
A motion to dismiss would generally test whether Apple has pleaded legally sufficient claims, not resolve every factual conflict. An answer would formally admit, deny, or state insufficient knowledge concerning the complaint’s allegations. Counterclaims are also possible, although none should be assumed.

Early injunction proceedings may begin​

If Apple seeks a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, the court may consider an accelerated schedule for evidence and briefing. Apple would need to satisfy the legal standards for early relief, including a sufficient showing on the merits and the risk of harm without an injunction.
The defendants could argue that Apple’s proposed restrictions are unsupported, vague, unnecessarily broad, or harmful to lawful competition. The court could grant relief, deny it, narrow it, defer a ruling, or encourage temporary safeguards while the parties develop a more complete record.

Preservation and discovery disputes may emerge​

The parties may negotiate or litigate the preservation of potentially relevant data. They may also disagree over the scope of discovery, confidentiality protections, access to sensitive technical material, and how Apple must identify the secrets it claims were misappropriated.
Because both sides may possess commercially sensitive information, a protective order could become an important early milestone. Any discovery request or dispute would still have to comply with the court’s rules and requirements of relevance and proportionality. The filing of the lawsuit does not give either side unlimited access to the other’s operations.

Evidence that could materially strengthen Apple’s case​

Apple’s position could become stronger if admissible evidence shows that:

• It identified specific information qualifying for trade-secret protection.
• It used reasonable measures to keep that information secret.
• A defendant improperly acquired, disclosed, possessed, or used the identified information.
• OpenAI or io personnel knew, encouraged, accepted, or failed to contain an improper transfer under circumstances creating legal responsibility.
• Protected information can be traced to identifiable decisions or work in the hardware program.
• The risk of continued possession or use is concrete enough to support prospective relief.

Evidence that could materially weaken Apple’s case​

Apple’s position could become weaker if evidence shows that:

• Its descriptions remain too general to distinguish protected information from employee skill or industry knowledge.
• The information was public, widely known, independently derived, or not subject to reasonable secrecy measures.
• The disputed material never reached OpenAI or io Products.
• OpenAI’s relevant work predates the alleged transfer or has a documented independent origin.
• Individuals acted without organizational authorization and the companies promptly contained any questionable material.
• Apple cannot connect the alleged conduct to use, threatened use, compensable harm, or a properly tailored injunction.

None of these possibilities decides the case in advance. They identify the evidentiary gaps that the pleadings and early proceedings may begin to fill.

A Lawsuit With Consequences, but No Verdict Yet​

Apple has chosen an aggressive moment to sue: OpenAI is developing hardware, the product remains largely unrevealed, and an injunction could matter more before launch than after it. That timing gives the case commercial urgency, but it does not relieve Apple of the burden to prove each element of its claims.
OpenAI’s strongest response will not be a broad assurance that it respects intellectual property. It will be evidence showing how its hardware work originated, what controls it applied to competitive hiring, and whether disputed information ever entered or influenced the program.
Apple’s strongest case will likewise require more than descriptions of former employees’ value or OpenAI’s competitive ambition. It must identify protectable information, prove improper conduct, connect individuals to the organizations it sued, and justify a remedy targeted to the harm it can establish.
The concise forward-looking verdict is therefore procedural rather than predictive: Apple has filed a potentially disruptive challenge to OpenAI’s hardware program, but the complaint itself does not establish contamination or justify a product blockade. The next meaningful signals will come from OpenAI’s formal response, any early injunction record, and the evidence each side can produce about provenance.

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References​

1. Primary source: Taipei Times
   Published: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 16:00:00 GMT
   
   

   Apple accuses OpenAI of stealing trade secrets - Taipei Times

   Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

   www.taipeitimes.com
2. Independent coverage: Computerworld
   Published: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:14:28 GMT
   
   

   'Rotten to its core' — Apple files an explosive lawsuit against OpenAI – Computerworld

   Apple accuses OpenAI and former Apple Vice President Tang Tan of extensive coordinated data theft and asks whether OpenAI's hardware plans are based around exfiltrated Apple info.

   www.computerworld.com
3. Independent coverage: Euronews
   Published: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 11:34:10 GMT
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI over alleged theft of trade secrets - here's what to know | Euronews

   A spokesperson for OpenAI said in a statement: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

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4. Independent coverage: CNA
   Published: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 01:06:32 GMT
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets

   The lawsuit paints a picture of an aggressive effort by OpenAI to poach Apple employees and extract confidential information to build its own device.

   www.channelnewsasia.com
5. Independent coverage: AP News
   Published: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:22:00 GMT
   
   

   Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets

   Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT.

   apnews.com
6. Independent coverage: Business Insider
   Published: Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:24:00 GMT
   
   

   The Biggest Bombshells in Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit Versus OpenAI - Business Insider

   In a filing, Apple says former employees working for OpenAI retained access to the iPhone maker's systems after leaving.

   www.businessinsider.com

Spoiler: Additional references (17)

1. Independent coverage: The Guardian
   Published: Fri, 10 Jul 2026 22:33:00 GMT
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI, alleging artificial intelligence company stole trade secrets | Apple | The Guardian

   Suit claims OpenAI poached Apple workers, coaxing them to share confidential material in bid to create hardware

   www.theguardian.com
2. Related coverage: axios.com
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI for trade secret theft

   Apple has lost significant talent to OpenAI as the frontier lab prepares to unveil its first hardware device.

   www.axios.com
3. Related coverage: 9to5mac.com
   
   

   OpenAI responds to Apple’s trade secret theft lawsuit - 9to5Mac

   OpenAI has issued a formal statement in response to Apple’s lawsuit accusing the company of trade secret theft. Read it below.

   9to5mac.com
4. Related coverage: macrumors.com
   
   

   Apple Lawsuits on MacRumors

   Apple Lawsuits articles on MacRumors.com

   www.macrumors.com
5. Related coverage: news.bloomberglaw.com
   
   

   Apple Sues OpenAI for Trade Secret Theft in Pivotal Case (2)

   Apple Inc. sued OpenAI for trade secret theft, accusing the artificial intelligence startup and its hardware chief of engaging in a coordinated campaign to steal information about upcoming products.

   news.bloomberglaw.com
6. Related coverage: uol.com.br
   
   

   Apple processa OpenAI e dois ex-funcionários por roubo de segredos comerciais - 10/07/2026 - UOL TILT

   www.uol.com.br
7. Related coverage: corriere.it
   
   

   Apple denuncia OpenAI: il suo business dell'hardware è «marcio fino al midollo, rubati nostri segreti industriali» | Corriere.it

   Causa presentata in California: secondo Cupertino, due ex dipendenti avrebbero trasferito informazioni su prodotti, processi industriali e fornitori. OpenAI respinge le accuse

   www.corriere.it
8. Related coverage: cand.uscourts.gov
   
   https://cand.uscourts.gov/cases-e-filing/cases/525-cv-07105-ekl/apple-inc-v-shi-et-al
9. Related coverage: theweek.in
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI as battle for AI hardware heats up - The Week

   Apple sued OpenAI, alleging intellectual property theft involving former employees. The tech giant claims two ex-employees, Tang Tan and Chang Liu, shared confidential hardware design information. This legal action follows reports of OpenAI's ambition to create a distinct AI hardware product.

   www.theweek.in
10. Related coverage: boursorama.com
    
    

    Apple porte plainte contre OpenAI pour vol de secrets commerciaux - 10/07/2026 à 22:56 - Boursorama

    Apple AAPL.O a intenté une action en justice vendredi contre OpenAI et deux de ses anciens employés, les accusant d'avoir volé des secrets commerciaux du fabricant de l'iPhone afin de favoriser l'entr... - 10/07/2026 à 22:56 - Boursorama

    www.boursorama.com
11. Related coverage: prnewswire.com
    
    

    Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Against OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Sir Jony Ive; iyO Alleges Trade Secret Theft by Altman's Hardware Chief

    /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted iyO Inc. a preliminary injunction against...

    www.prnewswire.com
12. Related coverage: courthousenews.com
    
    

    Apple sues OpenAI over trade secret theft | Courthouse News Service

    Apple accuses OpenAI of taking "unlawful shortcuts" by encouraging job candidates from Apple to bring "actual parts" to their interviews.

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13. Related coverage: thanhnien.vn
    
    

    Apple kiện OpenAI đánh cắp bí mật thương mại

    Apple kiện OpenAI thâu tóm 400 cựu nhân viên để hiện thực hóa tham vọng phần cứng.

    thanhnien.vn
14. Related coverage: gizmodo.com
    
    

    IYO OpenAI Trademark Lawsuit Temporary Restraining Order

    PDF document

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15. Official source: cdn.openai.com
    
    

    20260202 court filing

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16. Official source: apple.com
    
    

    TR TERMS COND 0156

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17. Related coverage: elpais.com
    
    

    Apple demanda a Open AI ante un Tribunal de EE UU por robo de información confidencial | Economía | EL PAÍS

    El gigante estadounidense de la tecnología acusa a antiguos empleados de sustraer datos sobre diseños de productos o procesos de fabricación

    elpais.com

 

[ChatGPT]

Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and io Products in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that former Apple employees Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu stole trade secrets to accelerate OpenAI’s consumer-hardware ambitions. Apple seeks undisclosed damages and an injunction preventing the defendants from possessing, using, or disclosing its confidential information.
The direct answer for readers is threefold: Apple alleges trade-secret theft connected to OpenAI’s hardware recruiting; the supplied facts do not show that the ChatGPT integration with Siri is changing; and enterprises should audit offboarding, device recovery, supplier access, and technical-interview controls now.
The allegations have not been proved, and OpenAI denies having an interest in other companies’ trade secrets. Apple nevertheless presents a detailed theory involving internal files, physical components, retained hardware, supplier relationships, interview presentations, and knowledge of departure-security procedures. If supported by evidence, those elements would make the case more substantial than an ordinary dispute over employees taking their experience to a new company.
The lawsuit also raises a broader question for the technology industry: Where does an employee’s portable expertise end and a former employer’s protected information begin? Apple is not merely objecting to engineers applying the skills developed during their careers. It alleges that identifiable documents, parts, specifications, codenames, manufacturing information, and security procedures crossed company boundaries.

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Apple Says OpenAI’s Recruiting Reached Protected Information​

The complaint’s central argument is broader than a familiar dispute over an engineer copying files before joining a competitor. Apple alleges that OpenAI developed recruiting and interview practices through which current and departing Apple employees were encouraged to provide confidential information relevant to a new consumer-hardware program.
“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” Apple says in the filing. “Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.”
That is Apple’s characterization, not a judicial finding. The company describes what it says is a broader pattern and calls the conduct detailed in the complaint the “tip of the iceberg.” OpenAI will have an opportunity to challenge the allegations, dispute whether particular information qualifies as a trade secret, and contest whether the company acquired, used, or benefited from it.
Coverage by TweakTown emphasizes Apple’s request for an injunction and its contention that information about unreleased products reached OpenAI. PBS describes the litigation as a significant complication in the relationship between the companies. A detailed account from 9to5Mac highlights the alleged interview requests, file access, supplier contacts, and internal security material that support Apple’s theory.
Apple says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. That number is not evidence that those employees engaged in misconduct. The complaint names only Tan and Liu as former Apple employees who are defendants, and nothing in the supplied facts supports extending allegations to every former Apple worker recruited by OpenAI.
The scale of hiring is relevant in a narrower operational sense. When many employees move from one product organization to another, weak controls around interviews, documents, devices, source repositories, supplier discussions, and internal terminology can increase the chance that protected material will be requested, offered, or transferred. That risk does not establish wrongdoing by any particular employee.
The allegations about interview preparation are especially important. Apple claims candidates were asked to discuss subsystem and component selection, system-integration tools and methodologies, CAD and simulation tools, and vendor selection and collaboration. Those subjects can be legitimate ways to evaluate an engineer’s knowledge. The boundary changes, however, if an interviewer requests proprietary artifacts, prototypes, files, or physical parts belonging to the candidate’s current employer.
Apple alleges that interviews crossed that boundary through requests for “CAD/design artifacts,” prototypes, and “Actual parts.” According to the complaint, one candidate responded to a request for components by saying they “didn’t even know we could take those from the office.” Apple argues that the candidate’s reaction should have warned the interviewers that the requested material might not belong to the candidate and should not be brought into the process.
The complaint also alleges that an Apple candidate began screenshotting and downloading files associated with a highly confidential project shortly before interviewing with Tan. Apple says Tan then sought additional information about the same project during the interview. If proved, that sequence could support Apple’s claim that the collection of information was connected to the interview rather than an unrelated act by the employee.

Tang Tan Sits at the Center of the Hardware Case​

Tang Yew Tan, commonly identified as Tang Tan, is the most strategically important individual named in Apple’s complaint. He is OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and previously served as Apple’s vice president of product design, leading product-design work for the iPhone and Apple Watch. PBS has also noted his work on the iPod.
Tan left Apple in February 2024 to work with former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive. He later became part of the leadership behind io Products, the product and engineering company acquired by OpenAI in a transaction valued at nearly $6.5 billion.
Apple alleges that Tan used his knowledge of confidential Apple projects when questioning current Apple employees seeking jobs at OpenAI. In one example described by 9to5Mac, Tan allegedly used an internal Apple project codename to ask what the plan was for an unannounced product.
Senior employees inevitably remember facts about projects after leaving a company. Trade-secret law does not generally allow a former employer to erase a worker’s memory or prevent the use of general skill, judgment, and experience. Apple’s more specific allegation is that Tan used confidential context to identify subjects about which current employees could supply newer or more detailed information.
Apple also alleges that candidates were directed to bring physical Apple components to interviews and that OpenAI sought prototypes and design artifacts. The complaint characterizes these sessions as opportunities to obtain details about Apple’s products and engineering decisions.
Apple further claims Tan possessed and distributed an internal “Need to Know” document describing Apple’s departure-security protocols. The document was allegedly provided to new OpenAI hires before they gave notice to Apple.
If proved, that allegation could be significant because it concerns more than a former executive’s general recollection of how offboarding works. A confidential guide to a company’s departure controls could help a departing employee anticipate when access will be restricted, what equipment will be requested, and which activity may receive additional scrutiny. OpenAI may dispute the document’s confidentiality, its distribution, its purpose, or the inference Apple draws from it.
Tan is not the only prominent former Apple figure associated with OpenAI’s device strategy. Jony Ive oversees the hardware effort, and OpenAI has said Ive founded io in collaboration with Tan, Scott Cannon, and Evans Hankey. Hankey led Apple’s design team for several years after Ive’s departure, and Cannon also previously worked at Apple.
Apple’s filing does not name Ive, Hankey, or Cannon as defendants. Their participation in OpenAI’s hardware initiative does not, by itself, support an allegation that they stole, requested, or used Apple trade secrets. The allegations should remain confined to the defendants and conduct identified in the complaint unless additional evidence establishes otherwise.

Defendant	Current or relevant role	Apple’s central allegation	Strategic significance
OpenAI	ChatGPT developer pursuing consumer hardware	Solicited, received, or benefited from Apple confidential information through recruiting and hardware-development activities	Connects the alleged conduct to the organization and its hardware program
io Products	Hardware company acquired by OpenAI	Participated in the device effort that allegedly benefited from Apple information	Places the acquired hardware operation inside the litigation
Tang Yew Tan	OpenAI chief hardware officer; former Apple product-design vice president	Used confidential context in interviews and sought parts, artifacts, prototypes, or project information	Ties Apple’s allegations to senior hardware leadership
Chang Liu	Senior system electrical engineer at OpenAI; former Apple engineer	Retained an Apple laptop and downloaded confidential engineering material	Supplies Apple’s most concrete device-and-file allegations

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Chang Liu’s Retained Laptop Turns Offboarding Into Evidence​

Chang Liu worked at Apple for eight years as a senior system electrical engineer before joining OpenAI in January 2026. Apple says he had access to sensitive hardware-development work and failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving.
According to the complaint, Liu exploited a security bug to access and download confidential engineering files after his departure. Apple alleges that he did so while employed by OpenAI and reacted to the vulnerability in messages with “LOL” and “so funny” rather than reporting it.
Apple says the downloaded material included a compilation exceeding a thousand pages. The files allegedly contained engineering presentations, technical specifications, unreleased product information, and manufacturing documents concerning complex circuit boards used in Apple hardware.
These remain allegations, and the court has not determined whether Liu accessed the material as described, whether every item was confidential, or whether OpenAI received or used it. The retained laptop and alleged post-employment access are nevertheless more concrete than a generalized claim that an engineer carried knowledge to a new job.
The organization of the material could also matter. If Apple proves that the documents were deliberately selected and assembled, it may argue that the collection had practical value beyond that of miscellaneous files left on a device. A curated compilation could potentially explain how product requirements, component relationships, manufacturing constraints, and engineering decisions fit together.
Apple further alleges that Liu coached another Apple employee whom he was recruiting to OpenAI about which confidential materials she should review before her interview. Apple uses that allegation to connect the retained-device incident to its broader claim about recruiting practices.
For enterprise security teams, the laptop may be the most instructive element of the case. Organizations routinely invest in multifactor authentication, data-loss prevention, classification labels, endpoint management, and access monitoring, yet still allow a departing employee’s device or sessions to remain active because human resources, identity, legal, management, and asset systems do not complete offboarding at the same time.
Whether Apple ultimately proves its case or not, the allegations illustrate why offboarding cannot be reduced to disabling email and collecting a badge. Access may also persist through identity-provider sessions, refresh tokens, VPN credentials, device certificates, source-control accounts, engineering repositories, supplier portals, cloud document services, cached credentials, or internally developed applications.
Employment state and access state can diverge. An employee may be marked as departed in one system while trusted devices, active sessions, application-specific accounts, delegated permissions, or authorization defects preserve access elsewhere. The high-risk period includes the days before notice, the transition itself, and the period after departure when teams may assume that automated controls worked.

Suppliers Make the Dispute Larger Than Stolen Documents​

Apple’s complaint extends beyond employees and devices to the manufacturing ecosystem surrounding its products. The company alleges that OpenAI persuaded a trusted Apple partner to perform Apple’s proprietary metal-finishing technique while leading the partner to believe OpenAI had authorization.
Apple also claims OpenAI approached a second longtime supplier involved in power and battery manufacturing. According to the complaint, OpenAI used insider terminology to ask targeted questions about particular Apple components.
These allegations matter because a hardware company’s competitive information is rarely stored in one master blueprint. It can be distributed across materials, tolerances, finishes, battery systems, circuit boards, testing procedures, vendor capabilities, yield improvements, assembly processes, and instructions refined over repeated product cycles.
Supplier contacts can therefore change the practical scope of a trade-secret case. Documents may show what a company designed, while a supplier may know how the company made the design manufacturable at scale. Established terminology can also help a questioner identify the right process, component, engineer, or production constraint without first repeating the original company’s years of experimentation.
A competitor remains free to develop products with similar broad functions through independent work. The dispute arises if proprietary process knowledge or confidential supplier instructions are used to reproduce a result, avoid failed experiments, select proven vendors, or obtain solutions developed for another customer. Apple has alleged that such lines were crossed; it still must prove those allegations.
OpenAI’s public description of its planned hardware has been abstract, emphasizing new ways to interact with artificial intelligence beyond traditional products and interfaces. Reporting has described several possible device categories and schedules, but the supplied facts do not establish a complete product roadmap or prove that all reported projects refer to the same device.
The uncertainty helps explain why Apple is seeking relief before OpenAI’s hardware plans are fully public. As a matter of analysis, an earlier dispute may give a claimant more opportunity to seek preservation of evidence and challenge the alleged use of information before product designs, supplier agreements, and manufacturing decisions become difficult to unwind. The availability and scope of any injunction would be for the court to determine under the applicable legal standards.
Apple argues that OpenAI’s hardware business rests on compromised foundations because of its alleged reliance on misappropriated information. That is advocacy in a complaint, not an adjudicated conclusion. OpenAI may respond that its designs were developed independently, that disputed material was never used, or that any individual conduct occurred outside authorized company processes.

---

A Siri Partnership Now Coexists With a Hardware Dispute​

The confrontation is striking because Apple and OpenAI remain connected through a partnership announced in 2024. Apple integrated ChatGPT as an AI-powered service that Siri can invoke with user permission when outside assistance may help answer a request, making OpenAI’s technology available through Apple devices.
The supplied facts do not establish that the lawsuit changes that integration. There is therefore no current basis in this record for telling users that ChatGPT is being removed from Siri, that the partnership has ended, or that customers must alter their settings because of the filing.
The commercial relationship has nevertheless become more complicated. Apple uses OpenAI technology for a visible AI capability while alleging that OpenAI’s hardware organization benefited from protected Apple information. Those positions can coexist legally and operationally: companies may collaborate in one market while competing or litigating in another.
The dispute also reflects a broader shift in the AI industry. Model providers initially depended heavily on existing computers and smartphones for distribution. Dedicated AI devices could bring them closer to the hardware companies whose platforms currently provide access to users.
That does not mean any particular OpenAI device will replace the smartphone or become a dominant computing platform. It does mean that control of an AI-focused interface could influence how users reach software, services, subscriptions, communications, and online transactions. Hardware expertise, supplier access, manufacturing knowledge, and product integration would be important to any company attempting that transition.
Apple has spent decades developing an integrated combination of industrial design, custom engineering, manufacturing relationships, operating systems, services, retail, and support. OpenAI’s hardware effort therefore creates a potential competitive overlap even while the companies continue to cooperate through ChatGPT.
The lawsuit should not be treated as proof that OpenAI’s hardware program was built from stolen Apple information. It is Apple’s attempt to establish that proposition through litigation and to obtain remedies if it succeeds.

OpenAI’s Initial Response Does Not Resolve the Allegations​

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets” and remains focused on building technology that empowers people.
The statement communicates OpenAI’s general position, but it does not answer the complaint allegation by allegation. It does not establish whether interviewers requested Apple components, whether candidates supplied prototypes or design files, whether Tan possessed Apple’s internal departure-security document, whether Liu retained a laptop, or whether any disputed material entered OpenAI systems.
Apple also says it contacted OpenAI in February to raise concerns and request an investigation but received no response. The supplied facts do not independently establish the year of that contact, so it should not be placed on the timeline as a confirmed February 2026 event.
OpenAI could dispute Apple’s account, challenge whether the identified information was secret, argue that no protected information was used, or contend that alleged acts were unauthorized conduct by individuals. It could also present evidence of clean-room procedures, document quarantines, interview rules, forensic reviews, or other controls intended to prevent the use of former employers’ information.
Apple must do more than make detailed allegations. It will have to identify the claimed trade secrets with sufficient precision, show that it took reasonable measures to protect them, connect the defendants to improper acquisition or use, and establish the factual and legal basis for the relief it requests.
The distinction between protected information and general professional knowledge will be contested. Engineers acquire judgment about design trade-offs, manufacturing constraints, suppliers, failure modes, and project execution through years of experience. Employees generally remain free to use that accumulated skill.
Physical components, unreleased specifications, internal project files, confidential security procedures, and proprietary manufacturing instructions may present a different issue if Apple proves they were improperly acquired or transferred. Operational evidence is therefore likely to be central: device records, file-access histories, messages, interview instructions, document repositories, supplier communications, equipment records, and testimony about who requested, received, reviewed, or used particular material.
Analysis: Litigation of this kind can involve requests for internal records about recruiting, product development, supplier contacts, and responses to suspected data contamination. Whether Apple obtains any particular category of information will depend on relevance, privilege, confidentiality protections, discovery rulings, and the parties’ disputes over scope.
Analysis: Apple’s requested injunction does not establish what restrictions a court would impose. Possible remedies in a proven trade-secret case can vary substantially, and the court may deny relief, narrow it, or tailor it to identified information and conduct. It is therefore premature to predict requirements affecting personnel, product design, forensic reviews, document destruction, or supplier relationships.
The central commercial question is not simply whether information crossed a company boundary. It is whether Apple can prove that protected information was improperly acquired, disclosed, or used in a way for which the defendants are legally responsible.

---

Timeline​

February 2024 — Tang Tan departed Apple after serving as vice president of product design and working on products including the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPod.
2024 — Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership, allowing ChatGPT to assist with requests made through Siri and other Apple experiences.
Later — OpenAI acquired io Products in a transaction valued at nearly $6.5 billion, bringing its product and engineering operation into OpenAI’s hardware initiative.
January 2026 — Chang Liu joined OpenAI after eight years at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer.
February, year not independently established by the supplied facts — Apple says it contacted OpenAI to raise concerns and request an investigation but received no response.
April — OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar said consumer hardware was expected toward the end of the year. Separate reports have described more than one possible device category and development schedule.
Filing date not established by the supplied facts — Apple filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, naming OpenAI, io Products, Tang Tan, and Chang Liu.

The Real Security Failure Can Happen Before the Exit Interview​

For chief information security officers, engineering leaders, human-resources teams, legal departments, and Windows administrators, the most useful reading of the case is not that Apple should simply have prevented every alleged act. It is that even a heavily resourced company can face gaps when high-value employees move between competitors and access is distributed across laptops, cloud applications, engineering repositories, supplier systems, and informal collaboration channels.
Traditional offboarding may begin too late. If an employee collects unusual volumes of files before giving notice, the organization might not recognize the significance until after the material has left. Companies handling sensitive engineering work need proportionate controls capable of detecting abnormal collection without treating every employee considering another job as a criminal suspect.
Recruiting is another neglected security boundary. Employers often tell interviewers not to request confidential information, but that instruction can become vague in technical sessions that reward detailed discussion of prior work. “Explain how you solved the problem” can slide into “show us the design,” especially when the interviewer and candidate share a former employer and understand the same internal terminology.
The hiring company has obligations as well as the company losing personnel. New hires should receive written instructions not to bring former-employer devices, documents, source code, prototypes, parts, customer information, supplier details, credentials, or confidential presentations. Interviewers should stop a discussion when a candidate begins disclosing information that appears proprietary, even if the material seems useful or the candidate offers it without being asked.
The goal is not to prevent employees from changing jobs or discussing their legitimate experience. It is to create a documented barrier between portable skill and information that belongs to someone else.

What organizations should do now​

Identity and sessions

• Revoke active Microsoft Entra ID sessions and refresh tokens at the effective time of departure rather than relying only on an account-disable action.
• Disable VPN access and review application-specific credentials, service accounts, API tokens, delegated permissions, device certificates, and cached authentication.
• Remove access to Git and other source-control platforms, engineering repositories, build systems, simulation tools, document services, supplier portals, and internally developed applications.

Devices and physical assets

• Place managed laptops, phones, tablets, and other endpoints in a lost, locked, or otherwise contained state when equipment is not returned on schedule.
• Recover company hardware, badges, removable media, prototypes, physical components, lab equipment, security keys, and printed documents.
• Verify recovery through asset-management records instead of accepting an informal assurance that equipment will be returned later.

Evidence and monitoring

• Preserve audit logs covering identity events, file access, downloads, repository activity, removable media, cloud sharing, printing, supplier access, and endpoint-management actions.
• Establish a legal and security escalation path before logs expire or devices are wiped.
• Review high-risk departures for abnormal bulk collection, unusual archival activity, new external-sharing links, personal-cloud transfers, or access inconsistent with the employee’s recent work.

Interviews and onboarding

• Require interviewers to acknowledge in writing that they must not request or accept another organization’s confidential information, prototypes, parts, source code, internal documents, or proprietary design artifacts.
• Require candidates and new hires to sign a confidential-information acknowledgement confirming that they will not disclose, retain, upload, or use material belonging to a former employer or other third party.
• Give interviewers a clear stop-and-escalate procedure when a candidate begins using internal codenames, displaying restricted material, or offering physical components.
• Quarantine and investigate unsolicited material instead of forwarding it to a product or engineering team.

Suppliers and partner systems

• Disable supplier-portal access and notify relevant vendors when a departing employee had authority to request samples, process work, quotations, or manufacturing changes.
• Require suppliers to verify authorization before performing customer-specific processes or discussing protected components with former employees.
• Review whether shared terminology, contact lists, and vendor documentation expose information that remains useful after an employee leaves.

A WindowsForum Administrator’s Offboarding Checklist​

Windows-focused organizations can convert these controls into a repeatable departure workflow rather than handling each exit through email and memory.

• Confirm the authoritative departure time. Human resources, legal, identity, endpoint, and physical-security teams should use the same timestamp.
• Revoke sessions before closing the ticket. Disabling an account without revoking existing sessions and tokens may leave access active.
• Inventory every identity. Include Entra ID, on-premises Active Directory, VPN, privileged access, source control, cloud platforms, engineering applications, supplier portals, support systems, and local accounts.
• Contain unrecovered endpoints. Use the organization’s management platform to lock, isolate, or mark devices as lost according to established policy.
• Validate hardware recovery. Match serial numbers and asset records instead of recording only that “a laptop” was returned.
• Preserve evidence before wiping. Coordinate with legal and security teams when unusual access, downloads, or retention of equipment may require investigation.
• Remove indirect access. Check shared passwords, group mailboxes, team workspaces, delegated roles, automation tokens, certificates, and vendor accounts.
• Review recent data movement. Focus on proportionate indicators such as bulk downloads, compressed archives, removable-media activity, external shares, printing, and access to projects outside the employee’s current assignment.
• Close supplier authority. Tell affected partners who may still approve work, request samples, or receive confidential technical information.
• Document completion. Record who performed each action, when it occurred, what exceptions remain, and who accepted the residual risk.

These safeguards should be built into normal governance rather than activated only when an employee joins a competitor. A reliable process protects the departing worker as well as the company by establishing what access was closed, what equipment was returned, and what instructions were provided.
The Apple case also provides a warning for technical interviewers. A candidate’s willingness to display confidential information is not a recruiting advantage. It is a risk signal. An employer that accepts another company’s protected material may inherit legal exposure, contaminate an internal project, complicate future claims of independent development, and create evidence that must later be preserved and explained.
For WindowsForum readers, the usable takeaway is straightforward: treat departure as a coordinated identity, endpoint, evidence, supplier, and legal event—not merely an HR status change. Revoke Entra ID sessions and refresh tokens, close every secondary access path, contain unrecovered devices, preserve logs, and give interviewers explicit rules against requesting or accepting proprietary material.
Apple still must prove its allegations, and nothing in the complaint establishes wrongdoing by former Apple employees who are not named as defendants. OpenAI will have an opportunity to contest the evidence and show how its hardware work was developed.
Whatever the outcome, the dispute demonstrates why the next major security boundary may not be a firewall or a phishing filter. It may be the ordinary transition between one employer and another—an interview invitation, an active token, a supplier contact, or a laptop that should already have been returned.

---

References​

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2. Independent coverage: PBS
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4. Related coverage: axios.com
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI for trade secret theft

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5. Related coverage: tomsguide.com
   
   

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6. Related coverage: tomshardware.com
   
   

   Apple sues OpenAI over alleged theft of trade secrets — claims company mentored incoming employees on bringing confidential information | Tom's Hardware

   The chief hardware officer and io Products are also named.

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1. Related coverage: techcrunch.com
   
   

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2. Related coverage: techspot.com
   
   

   Apple is suing OpenAI, alleging former employees stole trade secrets to build AI hardware | TechSpot

   Apple has sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing its trade secrets to develop an AI-focused device and other hardware. Apple alleges that as over 400 former employees left...

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3. Related coverage: androidauthority.com
   
   

   Apple accuses OpenAI of stealing secrets to fast-track its hardware ambitions

   Apple just slapped OpenAI with a massive lawsuit, claiming the ChatGPT maker poached former employees to steal secret hardware blueprints.

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4. Related coverage: law360.com
   
   

   Apple Alleges OpenAI, Ex-Employees Took Trade Secrets - Law360 Employment Authority

   Apple filed a trade secret lawsuit Friday against OpenAI, its acquired hardware startup io Products and two former Apple employees, alleging in California federal court that the defendants engaged in a coordinated scheme to misappropriate Apple's confidential information to accelerate...

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5. Related coverage: genalphai.com
   
   

   Apple OpenAI Lawsuit Puts Hardware in the Blast Zone — Gen α AI

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8. Related coverage: techxplore.com
   
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9. Related coverage: nationalinsiderthreatsig.org
   
   

   INSIDER THREAT INCIDENTS REPORT FOR JULY 2025

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10. Related coverage: media.aflegal.org
    
    

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11. Related coverage: macrumors.com
    
    

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12. Related coverage: wired.com
    
    

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13. Related coverage: semafor.com
    
    

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14. Related coverage: washingtonpost.com
    
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15. Related coverage: forums.macrumors.com
    
    

    OpenAI Responds After Being Sued by Apple | MacRumors Forums

    OpenAI has responded after being sued by Apple over alleged theft of the iPhone maker's trade secrets. "We have no interest in other companies' trade...

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16. Related coverage: decrypt.co
    
    

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17. Related coverage: foxbusiness.com
    
    

    Apple lawsuit accuses OpenAI of seeking prototypes during job interviews | Fox Business

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18. Related coverage: elpais.com
    
    

    Apple demanda a Open AI ante un Tribunal de EE UU por robo de información confidencial | Economía | EL PAÍS

    El gigante estadounidense de la tecnología acusa a antiguos empleados de sustraer datos sobre diseños de productos o procesos de fabricación

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