Apple's lawsuit details alleged systematic theft of trade secrets by OpenAI and departing employees

Apple has filed a sweeping lawsuit against OpenAI with a 41-page complaint packed with allegations suggesting a coordinated campaign to extract confidential information through former and current employees. The case appears to extend beyond isolated wrongdoing, with Apple framing the conduct as emblematic of systemic problems at the AI company.

The scope and scale of misconduct#

Apple characterizes the alleged theft as "normalized and exemplified by leadership," positioning it not as rogue behavior but as part of OpenAI's institutional culture. The complaint hints that the documented examples are merely the beginning: Apple suggests that discovery—the legal process where corporate communications and documents are exchanged—will "expose that the misappropriation has been occurring on a scale many times greater than the several instances described below."

The company cites the presence of over 400 former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, using this statistic to illustrate the potential breadth of the confidentiality concerns.

Accessing systems and removing hardware#

Some of the most striking allegations involve direct exploitation of Apple's infrastructure. According to the complaint, Chang Liu, a former Apple senior systems electrical engineer who later joined OpenAI, accessed Apple's confidential network storage by exploiting an authentication bug, doing so from a colleague's work computer. In what Apple describes as a casual message, Liu allegedly texted: "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny." Hours after leaving Apple, Liu purportedly also messaged that he still had "another computer" he could use for further access.

Apple further alleges that OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan—a 24-year Apple veteran who previously led product design for iPhone and Apple Watch—directed job candidates to bring physical Apple components, design files, and prototypes to OpenAI interviews. One candidate expressed surprise at the request, apparently unaware that Apple parts could be removed from the office.

Circumventing security procedures#

The complaint reveals that OpenAI allegedly coached departing Apple employees on evading the company's security measures. Specifically, Apple claims OpenAI circulated an internal Apple document describing how to avoid the "dreaded walkout"—Apple's practice of immediately removing departing employees from the network rather than allowing the typical two-week transition. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges OpenAI advised employees to alert the company immediately if asked to sign exit agreements and to refrain from doing so.