Apple sues OpenAI over AI hardware trade secrets and 400+ poaching

Apple filed an AI hardware trade secrets lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California against OpenAI and multiple former Apple employees. It alleges a systematic hiring effort to obtain Apple trade secrets to accelerate consumer AI hardware development. Apple claims that since OpenAI launched its hardware initiative, more than 400 employees have moved to OpenAI, including former iPhone leader Tang Tan (OpenAI’s chief hardware officer) and Chang Liu. In the complaint, Apple says this was not normal talent mobility. It alleges Tang Tan discussed supply-chain issues before leaving, shared supplier information, and later helped shape recruitment to obtain undisclosed product details from people still at Apple. Apple also says job candidates were pushed to provide sensitive R&D materials—including product design, CAD files, prototypes, supplier collaboration methods, and system-integration tools—and even received advice on how to avoid detection by Apple’s security teams. For Chang Liu, Apple alleges he kept an Apple work computer after departure, exploited an authentication vulnerability to download dozens of confidential hardware-development files, and advised other hires to copy internal data without being caught. OpenAI denies seeking other companies’ trade secrets and says it focuses on building AI technology. Tang Tan and Chang Liu have not publicly responded. Traders may want to watch legal and compliance uncertainty around AI hardware milestones. The case comes as OpenAI accelerates its hardware roadmap, including its acquisition of io Products (linked to Jony Ive and Tang Tan) and signals of consumer devices in 2026–2027. While such an AI hardware trade secrets lawsuit can take years, the dispute may affect partnership access, supply-chain execution, and tech-sector risk sentiment—factors that can indirectly move crypto sentiment without being a direct catalyst for any single coin.