Apple sues OpenAI over 'rotten to the core' hardware theft

Apple just sued OpenAI for trade secret theft, accusing the AI lab of a coordinated campaign to lift Apple's unreleased hardware designs and build its own suite of devices. The suit, filed in the Northern District of California, calls OpenAI's hardware business "rotten to its core" and says the scheme ran "at every level" — from technical staff up to the chief hardware officer.

The named villain: Tang Tan, OpenAI's hardware chief and a former Apple VP, who allegedly told Apple staff interviewing at OpenAI to bring "actual parts" for show-and-tell. Another ex-employee, Chang Liu, is accused of swiping an Apple laptop and downloading dozens of confidential files on unreleased products. Apple notes over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.

It's a jarring reversal for two firms that inked a headline ChatGPT-into-iOS deal in 2024. OpenAI's response: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

Why it matters: the AI hardware race is now a legal war — and Apple is fighting to keep its device empire from being cloned by its own alumni.