Apple OpenAI Trade Secrets Lawsuit Intensifies

The Apple OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit intensified after OpenAI filed a motion to dismiss on Aug. 5, 2026, and opposed Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction. OpenAI argued that the complaint relies on broad, unprotected categories of development information, raising the prospect of court limits on OpenAI’s hardware program.

Court Filings and Legal Proceedings

Apple filed a 41-page trade-secrets complaint on July 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit names OpenAI, its hardware subsidiary io Products, and former Apple employees Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu. It alleges violations under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and related state laws, including misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of intellectual-property agreements.

Apple seeks damages and a preliminary injunction to bar OpenAI and the named employees from accessing, using, acquiring, or disclosing Apple’s confidential information and trade secrets. The company also asks the court to order the return of materials, halt further data acquisition efforts, preserve evidence, and permit forensic inspections of devices and accounts. Apple argues it would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction, claiming OpenAI’s hardware efforts would benefit from misappropriated technology.

OpenAI responded with a motion to dismiss, challenging Apple’s legal claims and arguing the complaint fails to identify specific, legally protectable trade secrets or show misappropriation by OpenAI or the former employees. OpenAI stated its hardware work is “entirely new and different” and that it has “no use, need or desire for Apple’s trade secrets.” The filing also criticized Apple’s security and offboarding practices, highlighting ongoing contacts with departing staff and lapses in device retrieval to question whether Apple treated the information as confidential. OpenAI framed the dispute as a matter of employee mobility and accused Apple of using the lawsuit to compensate for difficulties retaining AI talent and integrating AI into its products.

Both Apple’s injunction request and OpenAI’s dismissal motion are before the same federal judge, identified as Judge Edward Davila. A hearing is scheduled for October 2026, when the court is expected to consider the injunction and, by implication, the dismissal motion. If granted, the injunction could halt or severely constrain OpenAI’s hardware development during litigation by barring use of the disputed information and enforcing return and preservation orders.

Allegations and Talent Movement

Apple alleges a “systematic” campaign to acquire confidential information on unreleased hardware, manufacturing processes, product designs, and supplier relationships to accelerate OpenAI’s consumer hardware efforts. The complaint claims Tang Yew Tan, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, referenced internal project codenames in interviews, asked candidates about secret projects, and sometimes requested physical hardware components or prototypes.

Apple alleges that Chang Liu left the company in January 2026, retained an Apple-issued laptop, and exploited a network authentication vulnerability to download dozens of confidential hardware files exceeding a thousand pages, including unreleased schematics and manufacturing specifications. The complaint further alleges OpenAI used this information to approach Apple suppliers and replicate manufacturing techniques for future AI devices.

Apple states that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI across product design, hardware research and development, displays, antenna engineering, supply chain, and procurement. The company contends these hires have effectively recreated an Apple-like hardware chain at OpenAI.