Apple sues OpenAI, alleging employee accessed circuit plans after jumping ship

Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a systematic campaign to steal proprietary hardware secrets, with a former Apple engineer at the center of the allegations. The suit, filed July 10, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names OpenAI, its recently acquired subsidiary io Products, and two individuals: Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu. Liu, described in the complaint as a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple, is accused of exploiting a bug in Apple’s systems to access confidential circuit plans and technical specifications after he had already started working at OpenAI. Apple alleges he pulled the files without authorization, weeks into his new role at the startup. What Apple says happened Apple alleges Liu actively coached colleagues who were also planning to leave for OpenAI, advising them on how to sidestep Apple’s security measures before their departures. Among the materials allegedly taken: technical specifications and data tied to unreleased Apple hardware projects. The filing describes repeated, deliberate retrieval of sensitive files over a period of weeks, made possible by a ...