{"id":4224,"date":"2026-07-10T21:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4224"},"modified":"2026-07-10T21:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T21:39:11","slug":"apple-files-lawsuit-accusing-chatgpt-maker-openai-of-stealing-trade-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4224","title":{"rendered":"Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By KAITLYN HUAMANI and MATT O\u2019BRIEN<\/p>\n<p>Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4222\">Is buying a home still the way to wealth? Some young Americans aren\u2019t sure<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a California federal court that the theft of its trade secrets was part of a \u201ccoordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level\u201d by OpenAI. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis case is about Apple\u2019s former employees stealing Apple\u2019s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,\u201d the filing says. \u201cApple brings this suit to put a stop to it.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Two former Apple employees who now work for OpenAI are also named as defendants. One is Tang Tan, who helped design the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod and is now OpenAI\u2019s chief hardware officer. The other is Chang Liu, a former electrical engineer Apple says it entrusted with some of its most sensitive product development efforts before Liu left Apple to join OpenAI earlier this year. <\/p>\n<p>OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n<p>OpenAI has never said exactly what type of device it is building, but has described it as an effort to find a new way to interact with AI that goes beyond \u201ctraditional products and interfaces.\u201d It\u2019s part of a broader push to create a physical embodiment of the latest AI advances, a decade after Amazon and Google introduced screen-free talking speakers into homes.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims the effort was built partly on knowledge stolen from Apple. <\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOpenAI\u2019s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4220\">Suspect arrested in Bay Area graduation shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Apple said it began investigating whether some of its confidential information was compromised and \u201cuncovered a pattern of theft\u201d of Apple\u2019s trade secrets by former employees who moved on to positions at OpenAI.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleges both Liu and Tan accessed Apple\u2019s confidential company information and files while working at OpenAI. Among the allegations, Apple claims Liu accessed and downloaded several confidential hardware-related files on an Apple-issued device he kept after departing. It also alleges Tan directed job candidates who were still working for Apple to bring \u201cActual parts\u201d from Apple to their interviews at OpenAI.<\/p>\n<p>Apple said in the lawsuit that it reached out to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns early in its investigation, but said that OpenAI did not respond.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>An Apple spokesperson said in a statement Friday that the company will \u201calways defend our teams\u2019 hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4218\">Kristi Noem divorcing husband caught in sex-fetish, cross-dressing \u2018secret life\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By KAITLYN HUAMANI and MATT O\u2019BRIEN Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company. Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a California federal court that the theft of [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-headlines"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4224\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By KAITLYN HUAMANI and MATT O\u2019BRIEN Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company. 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