News-July-13-2026
July 13, 2026 — Apple sued OpenAI and several hardware executives over alleged trade-secret theft tied to OpenAI's consumer-device ambitions.[1][2]
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Apple accuses OpenAI of trade-secret theft in hardware-device lawsuit
Apple filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets to accelerate hardware products, according to Tech Brew's July 13 report on the complaint.[1] Apple named OpenAI, Tang Tan, Chang Liu, and io Products as defendants, and the article reported that Tan formerly served as Apple's vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer.[1] The complaint alleges that Tan directed Apple employees to bring hardware parts to OpenAI interviews as part of a "show and tell" process, according to Tech Brew's description of Apple's allegations.[1]
9to5Mac reported that Apple's complaint says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI and quotes Apple as arguing that hiring former Apple employees does not entitle OpenAI to use Apple's confidential information for its hardware efforts.[2] The dispute is significant for AI law because it frames the race to build AI-native consumer devices as a trade-secret and employee-mobility dispute, rather than only a product-competition story.[1][2]