Apple to court: OpenAI stole our unreleased hardware secrets

Apple filed for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI on Monday, and the motion reads less like a hiring dispute than a heist narrative. The core allegation: Chang Liu, an eight-year Apple engineer now an OpenAI Member of Technical Staff, exploited an authentication bug to re-enter Apple's internal network on at least five separate occasions between February and April 2026 — while already on OpenAI's payroll — pulling thousands of pages on custom display power, fabrication decisions, and an unannounced product's touch, display and power systems.

Apple also names Tang Yew Tan, a 24-year Apple design VP now OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, accusing him of using an internal Apple codename to fish trade secrets out of job candidates ("bring some parts you worked on"). A third figure, Yu-Ting Peng, was allegedly coached on copying files without tripping Apple's security team. In total Apple points at fourteen ex-Apple people now inside OpenAI.

The ask is aggressive: forensic inspection of OpenAI devices, cloud storage, Slack and email — including anything that previously held Apple data. A concurrent expedited discovery motion demands depositions of Liu, Tan, Peng, an unnamed fourth employee, and OpenAI itself under Rule 30(b)(6). Hearing is set for October 1, 2026.

OpenAI's public line: the injunction request is "based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets."

Why it matters: OpenAI's consumer hardware ambitions now run through a courtroom, and a forensic order could stall its device roadmap for months.