Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of trade secret theft involving former employees. The lawsuit. Filed on April 5. 2025. Names Chang Liu and Tang Tan—former Apple employees,as defendants, along with OpenAI and io Products, according to a statement from an Apple spokesperson to 9to5Mac.

Allegations and Former Employees

Apple alleges that Liu and Tan stole trade secrets while working at the company and passed them to OpenAI for the benefit of its operations; Chang Liu, a senior system electrical engineer at Apple for eight years, left in January 2026 to join OpenAI. Tang Tan. Who served as Apple’s VP of product design, departed in February 2024 to work with Jony Ive.

OpenAI’s hardware efforts are being led by Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, OpenAI acquired Ive’s startup, io, in a $6.5 billion deal last year. The acquisition included more than 50 engineers, developers, and other employees, as reported by 9to5Mac.

Legal and Corporate Response

Apple’s lawsuit emphasizes the importance of protecting intellectual property and the integrity of unreleased technologies; the company states that it has uncovered “significant evidence” of wrongdoing by individuals at OpenAI and is taking “all appropriate steps” to defend its innovations. An Apple spokesperson said, “We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations.”

OpenAI has not yet released an official statement regarding the allegations, though the company has previously faced scrutiny over its hiring practices and the potential for conflicts of interest, especially with high-profile hires like Jony Ive.

Broader Legal and Market Implications

While the lawsuit focuses on trade secrets and former employees, it reflects broader tensions in the tech industry over intellectual property, employee mobility, and the development of artificial intelligence. Similar disputes have emerged in other sectors, such as gaming, where Krafton is suing Garena, Apple, and Google over allegations of copyright infringement involving the game Free Fire. That case highlights the challenges companies face in protecting original content and design elements in digital markets.

The Apple-OpenAI case could set legal precedents for how trade secrets are handled in the AI space, particularly as companies invest heavily in proprietary technologies, and the outcome may influence how firms approach employee departures, non-compete agreements, and cross-industry collaboration.