A high-stakes legal battle is unfolding in Silicon Valley as Apple accuses OpenAI and several of its employees of orchestrating a covert effort to siphon off the tech giants trade secrets while building rival hardware.
According to Conservative Daily News, Apples lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, centers on Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer who departed for OpenAI in January. The complaint alleges that Liu discovered an authentication bug that improperly preserved his access to Apples internal file system and then exploited that flaw for weeks to download confidential materials, even as he was working on hardware for a competing platform.
The filing portrays Liu as almost gleeful about the breach, claiming he messaged a former colleague LOL and described the unauthorized access as so funny. His coworker, Yu-Ting Alyssa Peng, allegedly replied Im ready, later resigning from Apple and joining OpenAI in April, while Liu purportedly coached her on how to move files off Apple machines to avoid trouble with the security team.
Apple, now operating in an environment where President Trump has repeatedly emphasized the need to protect American innovation from both foreign and domestic threats, is seeking a court order to block OpenAI from using any of the disputed information. At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously, an Apple spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday.
The spokesperson added, Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apples secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.
OpenAI and its outside counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges declined to respond to inquiries from the Daily Caller News Foundation, maintaining public silence even as the allegations raise serious questions about corporate ethics and respect for property rights. Another key figure named in the complaint is OpenAIs chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who allegedly encouraged job candidates to bring actual parts such as batteries and logic boards from Apple for show and tell during interviews.
Apples filing underscores the scale of the talent migration, noting that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. The company suggests that this exodus, combined with the alleged misconduct, reflects a broader pattern of aggressive poaching and potential misappropriation that should concern any firm relying on the rule of law and market fairness.
OpenAI, for its part, has tried to downplay the case in comments to other outlets. While we take these allegations seriously, were not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit, OpenAI told Bloomberg reporter Ed Ludlow on Tuesday.
The company also insisted it is not seeking to profit from stolen know-how. We have no interest in other companies trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere, the company told TechCrunch.
Behind the legal wrangling is OpenAIs push into consumer hardware, with anonymous sources telling Bloomberg that its first device will be a humanlike AI companion that lives in the home. The product is reportedly a portable, screenless smart speaker designed as an AI-centric home computer, a concept that raises fresh concerns for privacy, data security, and the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few unelected corporate actors.
Login