Apple Sues OpenAI, io Products, and Two Former Executives Over Alleged AI Hardware Trade Secret Theft

The complaint outlines a recruitment-driven extraction operation spanning late 2024 into 2025. Tan, OpenAI's hardware lead and former Apple VP, is accused of directing job candidates to physically deliver unreleased components for inspection and of circulating Apple's internal departure security protocols. Liu allegedly retained a company laptop to exfiltrate over one thousand pages of files after departure while sustaining back-channel contacts inside Apple supply operations. Apple contacted OpenAI in February 2025 without response before escalating to litigation.

The case sits inside the broader contest for on-device inference capability. OpenAI's acquisition of Jony Ive's io startup and its parallel hardware program directly overlap with Apple's silicon and sensor roadmap. Over four hundred former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, creating repeated vectors for tacit knowledge transfer that standard non-compete and NDA regimes have failed to contain. The suit deliberately excludes the Siri-ChatGPT integration, narrowing the dispute to hardware alone.

Apple seeks injunctive relief plus damages; OpenAI has signaled it may countersue over integration terms. Primary records show both parties treating hardware IP as the decisive bottleneck for next-generation AI products. Court filings will likely surface supplier lists and process documents that neither side has previously disclosed.

The litigation timeline points to a preliminary injunction hearing within ninety days. Any granted relief would constrain OpenAI's prototype timelines while Apple accelerates its own on-device models.