Apple sues OpenAI for stealing hardware secrets — is Jony Ive's startup doomed?
apple sued openai for allegedly stealing trade secrets via former employees now working on hardware. the legal battle threatens to derail openai's hardware ambitions and its partnership with jony ive.
apple has sued openai, accusing the ai giant of misappropriating confidential hardware technologies through employees who previously worked at apple. the complaint targets key personnel including tang tan, openai's chief hardware officer, and chang liu, alongside io products, the design startup openai acquired in 2025. apple claims it has evidence that these individuals took proprietary information regarding unreleased products to benefit openai's development. this dispute casts a shadow over openai's consumer hardware strategy and highlights the escalating proprietary tensions between established tech giants and ai labs.