Apple has sued OpenAI and two former employees, accusing the ChatGPT maker of using stolen trade secrets for its consumer hardware efforts.
Apple alleges Liu, who left the company in January after eight years, failed to return a company laptop and later accessed Apple’s internal systems through an authentication bug.
“While employed by OpenAI, Mr. Liu also exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug to access Apple’s shared network folders,” Apple’s attorneys said in the complaint. “Upon discovering that he had this unauthorized access to Apple’s systems, Mr. Liu did not report it, return his stolen Apple-issued work laptop, or delete the program that allowed the access.”
Apple alleges Liu downloaded dozens of confidential hardware files, including information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.
The company also alleges Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple before becoming OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, used confidential information from his time at Apple to benefit OpenAI.
The complaint claims Tan used Apple's internal project names during OpenAI interviews and asked about unreleased products. Apple also alleges candidates were told to bring “actual parts,” for “show and tell.”
Apple further claims OpenAI’s recruiting process requested “CAD/design artifacts,” prototypes, supplier information, and details about employees’ work on Apple hardware.
Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.
According to the filing, OpenAI’s hardware division has hired more than 400 former Apple employees. Apple claims it contacted OpenAI in February with concerns about confidential information entering the company but did not receive a response.
The lawsuit is a stark pivot from Apple and OpenAI’s earlier relationship.
