Technology and Science13 July, 20262 min read
Apple Sues OpenAI, Accuses Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu of Trade Secret Theft
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Apple sues OpenAI and two ex-Apple employees for trade-secret theft (Tang Yew Tan, Chang Liu). Ex-Apple employee retained access to Apple data for weeks via a rare bug.
Apple sues OpenAI
Apple filed a lawsuit in a California court on Friday, July 10, accusing OpenAI of putting in place "a systematic approach to acquiring, preserving and exploiting" its trade secrets to create its own hardware. The complaint centers on two OpenAI employees, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu, whom Apple alleges engaged in “a pattern of theft” of its trade secrets. Apple says the case involves a former Apple employee who spent eight years “working on some of Apple’s most sensitive product development programs,” and who left Apple for OpenAI in January 2026.
Ars Technica reports Apple found a “rare” bug that temporarily allowed Chang Liu to maintain access to confidential information on Apple servers for weeks after his termination. Apple also alleges Liu discovered an “authentication bug” on February 9 that allowed him to “access Apple’s shared network folders,” while using an Apple-issued work laptop he should have returned.
Bug, files, and messages
According to Ars Technica, Apple alleged that “over several weeks, while developing hardware for OpenAI, Mr. Liu surreptitiously accessed and downloaded dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files.”
Ars Technica adds that Liu allegedly downloaded a presentation on Apple’s complex circuit boards that Apple claimed would be “invaluable to anyone developing hardware.”
The Ars Technica account also quotes the message Apple says Liu sent to Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng: “I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.”
Fortune describes Apple’s lawsuit as alleging a “pattern of theft” by Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu, and says Apple is suing OpenAI as a whole as well as suing them personally for “Breach of Intellectual Property Agreement” and “Misappropriation of Trade Secrets in Violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.”
Fortune reports that OpenAI told Fortune it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” and that it is still reviewing the lawsuit.
Hardware timeline at risk
OpenAI’s hardware plans remain a focal point as the legal fight unfolds, with 9to5Mac reporting that OpenAI still plans to unveil its first product this year and release it in 2027, citing Bloomberg. 9to5Mac says Bloomberg reported that “In the immediate aftermath of the Apple filing, OpenAI still believes it is on track to announce its first product this year and release it in 2027.” The lawsuit also ties Apple’s accusations to OpenAI’s consumer-device ambitions, with Ars Technica saying Apple alleged OpenAI conspired with former Apple employees to “take an unlawful shortcut” and launch a line of AI-powered devices as marketable as Apple’s iPhone.
In parallel, Fortune reports that Apple partnered with OpenAI in late 2024 to offer ChatGPT within a revamped version of its Siri voice assistant, a capability which still exists today. Fortune further notes that OpenAI is working on an AI-powered device and that CEO Sam Altman called an early prototype “the coolest piece that the world will have ever seen,” in May 2025, while the company has still not released concrete details more than a year later.