OpenAI rejected Apple’s allegations of trade secret theft, arguing that it had failed to prove that former employees Tang Tan and Chang Liu had stolen confidential information. In a filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for San Jose, the company said Apple was using the lawsuit to slow down a potential rival and prevent the loss of employees. Apple sued OpenAI, Tan and Liu in July over alleged misuse of trade secrets related to hardware design, manufacturing and the supply chain. According to court documents, OpenAI hired approximately 400 employees from Apple for its hardware venture. OpenAI said California law allows employees to move to rival companies, and that Apple’s encouragement of personal iCloud use and its immediate removal of departing employees made it difficult to separate information and files. Liu said the access was intended to help former employees, while Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years, said he had returned the prototypes and kept only non-confidential materials. The lawsuit shows that the partnership established two years ago has broken down.
Background
Apple is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 19 reports mentioning the name in the past 90 days; the latest was dated September 1, 2026.