Hard Fork · Friday, July 17, 2026
Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its partner IO, alleging that the AI company has stolen trade secrets and confidential information. The lawsuit specifically names two current OpenAI employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, who are former Apple employees, as central to the alleged theft.
“at every level from members of its technical staff to its chief hardware officer, that's Tang Tan, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information as a natural result.”
“OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
“the allegation that they were, like, coaching job candidates to bring unreleased products into job interviews. That does just seem transparently wrong to me.”