Apple Inc. v. Liu

On 10 July 2026, Apple Inc. commenced proceedings against Chang Liu, Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. The Complaint asserts that Mr Liu, a Senior System Electrical Engineer of eight years' standing who joined OpenAI in January 2026, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop, accessed a former colleague's authenticated device, and exploited an authentication bug to reach Apple's shared network folders, from which he is said to have downloaded confidential files concerning unreleased products, engineering presentations, and technical specifications. Apple further pleads that Mr Tan, formerly Vice President of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch across twenty-four years and now OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, used internal Apple project codenames to elicit information from job candidates and directed candidates still employed by Apple to bring physical parts and CAD artefacts to OpenAI interviews. At the corporate level, Apple alleges the Defendants acted in concert to approach its trusted manufacturing partners, including having one execute a proprietary metal-finishing technique for OpenAI, and that io Products is an alter ego of OpenAI following its acquisition.

Six claims are advanced: misappropriation of trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act against each of Mr Liu, Mr Tan, OpenAI, and io Products, and breach of Apple's Intellectual Property Agreement against Mr Liu and Mr Tan.

Apple seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief restraining use or disclosure of its trade secrets, evidence preservation orders, return of its property, a declaration that the Defendants hold no rights to use the information, compensatory damages, disgorgement of unjust enrichment or a reasonable royalty, exemplary damages for wilful and malicious misappropriation, and attorneys' fees and costs.