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Apple sues OpenAI for hardware trade secret theft as Siri moves to Google Gemini

· by Pondero Newsdesk

The short version

Apple filed a 40-page federal lawsuit against OpenAI on July 10, 2026, naming the company's Chief Hardware Officer and a former Apple engineer for allegedly stealing confidential hardware designs. The suit arrived six weeks after OpenAI's confidential IPO filing, turning an employment dispute into a required prospectus disclosure.

Apple sues OpenAI for hardware trade secret theft as Siri moves to Google Gemini

Apple filed a 40-page federal complaint against OpenAI on July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, naming OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, engineer Chang Liu, and io Products LLC as defendants alongside OpenAI's corporate entities. The complaint (case 5:26-cv-07078, per CourtListener) charges a systematic effort to extract Apple's confidential hardware designs through targeted recruiting and continued unauthorized server access after employees departed. Six weeks after OpenAI submitted a confidential S-1 to the SEC per Fortune, active litigation from the world's most valuable company is now a required disclosure in any forthcoming prospectus. The lawsuit also arrived as Apple confirmed the next version of Siri, shipping this autumn, will run on Google Gemini rather than ChatGPT.

The lawsuit

Tang Tan spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, before joining OpenAI in early 2024 per TechCrunch. Apple's complaint accuses Tan of using Apple's confidential project code names during OpenAI recruiting, asking job candidates to bring Apple hardware components to interviews, coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade Apple's security procedures, and soliciting details about Apple's unannounced products.

The second named engineer, Chang Liu, spent eight years at Apple as a senior systems electrical engineer before joining OpenAI in January 2026 per TechCrunch. According to Apple's filing, Liu failed to return his Apple-issued MacBook after leaving the company and later discovered a software bug granting him continued read access to Apple's internal file servers. Fortune's reporting on the complaint quotes a message Liu sent to former Apple colleague Alyssa Peng: "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny." Peng replied "I'm ready" and allegedly helped retrieve additional materials from her own laptop before she joined OpenAI's hardware division in April 2026.

Apple says Liu downloaded confidential hardware specifications, engineering presentations, and manufacturing data while already on OpenAI's payroll. He also allegedly advised at least one other Apple employee on what materials to review before interviewing at OpenAI.

Apple sent OpenAI a letter in February 2026 raising these concerns and received no response per TechCrunch's account of the filing.

io Products, the hardware startup co-founded by Tang Tan and Jony Ive that OpenAI acquired in 2025 for $6.5 billion per TechCrunch, is named in the filing. Ive was not listed as a defendant. The complaint reads: "This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what's been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership."

Apple is seeking a court order barring OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, requiring the return of all misappropriated materials, and compelling preservation of evidence.

Responses

OpenAI issued a brief public statement: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."

Apple's statement read: "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."

The Siri switch

Apple and Google announced a multiyear AI partnership in January 2026 per CNBC, putting Google Gemini at the center of the next Siri rebuild. That Gemini-powered Siri is expected to ship with iOS 27 at Apple's September 2026 iPhone event. The arrangement ends the 2024 deal that placed ChatGPT as Siri's AI model for complex queries, which Fortune described as "default AI assistant positioning" across Apple's global installed base.

Apple did not disclose the financial terms of either the original ChatGPT integration deal or the Gemini replacement. The timing, however, is clear: the commercial relationship that gave OpenAI consumer distribution through Siri is ending in the same week Apple filed its lawsuit.

Why it matters

OpenAI's confidential S-1 filing, reported by Fortune, positions the company for a public listing currently targeted for late 2026. Active trade secret litigation from Apple is the kind of material item any forthcoming prospectus must disclose. The complaint also directly ties OpenAI's hardware ambitions to alleged misappropriation of Apple IP, which is commercially sensitive territory for a company entering public markets on the strength of an AI device story.

Fortune reported that more than 400 former Apple employees now work in OpenAI's hardware division. Legal discovery, if the case reaches that stage, would give Apple broad visibility into internal communications and practices at the division. OpenAI has few options for keeping that material confidential once a court orders production.

The case is also the first significant test of whether technical IP shared during an AI platform integration carries trade secret protection when one partner enters the other's product market. Apple's theory is direct: hardware knowledge shared in confidence during the Siri-ChatGPT partnership migrated into a competing product venture through recruiting practices. Whatever the courts decide, that theory will shape how AI platform data-sharing agreements are drafted going forward. Any operator running a commercial integration between two companies that compete in adjacent hardware or software markets should watch how this case develops.

What to watch next

OpenAI's formal legal response is due within 21 days of service. The full case docket is public at CourtListener (5:26-cv-07078). Any amendment to OpenAI's confidential S-1 to add the Apple case as a material litigation risk will appear on SEC EDGAR. Apple's September 2026 iPhone event is the expected operational endpoint for ChatGPT on Siri, when Gemini-powered Siri ships to users worldwide.

Sources