Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI reads less like a legal filing and more like a spy thriller script. The 41-page complaint, filed Friday, doesn’t just accuse OpenAI of poaching talent. It paints a picture of a coordinated operation to siphon confidential Apple information — complete with smug text messages, stolen hardware parts, and an internal cheat sheet for dodging security.
Some of the allegations are so brazen they almost sound made up. One message allegedly sent by a former Apple engineer to a colleague still inside the company reads: “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” The reply? “I’m ready.”
Here are the most striking claims in the Apple OpenAI lawsuit.
“Rotten to the core”: Apple takes a swipe at OpenAI’s hardware ambitions
Apple doesn’t mince words when describing the foundation of OpenAI’s rumored hardware business. You know, the one that might eventually challenge the iPhone.
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” the complaint states.
Leave it to Apple to work a rotting fruit metaphor into a legal document. The message is clear: whatever OpenAI is building, Apple claims it was built on stolen blueprints.
“This is the tip of the iceberg”
Apple isn’t just documenting what it knows. It’s signaling that this is only the beginning. The company argues that once the discovery process gets rolling — when emails, texts, and internal documents are handed over — the real scale of the alleged misconduct will come into focus.
“Discovery will expose that the misappropriation has been occurring on a scale many times greater than the several instances described below,” the complaint reads.
Translation: Apple thinks it’s caught a few fish, but it believes there’s a whole school down there.
The “LOL” message that started it all
One of the most damning pieces of evidence involves Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple who later joined OpenAI. According to the complaint, Liu exploited an authentication bug to access Apple’s systems — from the Apple-issued work computer of Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, a colleague who allegedly acted as a conduit between the two companies.
Liu’s message to Peng — “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny” — is included in the filing almost verbatim. Peng allegedly replied, “I’m ready.” She later left to join OpenAI herself but isn’t named as a defendant.
Then there’s the follow-up. Within hours of leaving Apple, Liu allegedly texted: “I still have another computer.” That message was discovered on Peng’s work laptop. Apple claims Liu planned to use that second machine to keep accessing confidential data after his departure.
“Didn’t even know we could take those from the office”
Some of the wildest allegations involve OpenAI’s hiring practices. Apple claims that OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan — who spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch — directed job candidates still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” from Apple to their interviews.
The purpose? “Show and tell sessions.”
One candidate was reportedly surprised by the request, saying he didn’t even realize Apple parts could be taken out of the office. Apple also alleges candidates were told to bring “CAD/design artifacts” and “prototypes” to interviews.
That’s not a job interview. That’s a shopping list.
Avoiding the “dreaded walkout”
Apple’s complaint claims OpenAI went as far as coaching departing employees on how to evade Apple’s security procedures. The alleged method? An internal Apple document bearing a “Need to know” designation was circulated to new hires.
The document reportedly contained details on how to avoid the “dreaded walkout” — Apple’s practice of immediately removing employees from the premises when they give notice. By dodging that, employees could stay for the typical two-week notice period, giving them more time to access confidential information.
And if Apple asked departing employees to sign anything at their exit interview? OpenAI allegedly advised them not to sign — and to “let OpenAI know ‘asap.’”
Over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI
The complaint also reveals a striking number: more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. Apple uses that figure to underscore the scale of the problem.
“It is not surprising that certain OpenAI personnel have knowledge of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information, which they are obligated to keep confidential. But OpenAI has resorted to exploiting this confidential information,” the complaint states.
That’s a lot of people with a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the door.
The io connection: metal-finishing secrets and a $6.5 billion deal
Then there’s io, the hardware firm founded by former Apple employees — including Jony Ive — that OpenAI acquired last year in a deal valued at $6.5 billion. io is now a defendant in the lawsuit.
Apple alleges io used its proprietary industrial design techniques by misleading an Apple partner into believing it had permission to carry out a “confidential metal-finishing technique.” The complaint also claims OpenAI approached a supplier using confidential information about power and battery components — even using “internal terminology” to ask questions that “only Apple-insiders would know to ask.”
If you’re wondering whether this kind of behavior is normalized at OpenAI, Apple has an answer for that too. The company describes the alleged misconduct as “normalized and exemplified by leadership.”
“Apple is left with no choice”
Apple says it tried to resolve this quietly. The company claims it reached out to OpenAI back in February to raise concerns. OpenAI never responded.
So here we are.
OpenAI’s only public response so far came via a statement on X on Friday: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
Whether that holds up in court remains to be seen. But if even half of these allegations are proven, the Apple OpenAI lawsuit could become one of the most consequential trade secrets cases in tech history. For more on how companies protect their intellectual property, check out our breakdown of trade secret litigation trends and the growing tension between Big Tech hiring practices and non-compete agreements.
