Apple has accused OpenAI of using hiring conversations and partner relationships to get access to confidential Apple hardware work, according to a lawsuit filed by Apple and published on DocumentCloud.
The complaint alleges that Apple employees interviewing for roles at OpenAI were asked by OpenAI’s hardware head to bring Apple components they were developing, along with unreleased product samples. Apple frames that request as part of a broader effort to obtain trade secrets from inside its hardware organization.
Apple also claims OpenAI stole confidential documents, examined hardware prototypes and persuaded one of Apple’s trusted partners to carry out a proprietary product design technique. Those are Apple’s allegations, not findings by a court.
The case matters because Apple’s hardware pipeline is built around secrecy, controlled supplier access and compartmentalized engineering work. If Apple’s account is accurate, the dispute is not just about employees leaving for a competitor. It is about whether a rival company tried to pull protected materials and manufacturing know-how out of Apple’s internal process.
What Apple says happened
According to Apple’s complaint, the lawsuit centers mainly on the conduct of three people. One named figure is Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple employee who recently served as vice president of Apple Watch. Apple says Tan left the company in 2024.
The complaint’s most direct allegation concerns interviews. Apple says employees who were speaking with OpenAI about jobs were told to arrive with physical components and unreleased samples from Apple projects. That is a serious claim because product samples and in-development parts can reveal design direction, supply-chain choices, manufacturing constraints and engineering trade-offs before a product is announced.
Apple further alleges OpenAI engaged in spying on hardware prototypes. The complaint also says OpenAI induced an Apple partner to perform a proprietary product design technique. Apple does not merely allege that OpenAI hired people with Apple experience; it claims OpenAI sought or received specific protected material and know-how.
The trade-secret line
Trade-secret cases often turn on the difference between general employee knowledge and protected company information. Engineers can take their skills to a new employer. They cannot take confidential documents, unreleased samples or proprietary techniques if those are protected under contract and trade-secret law.
Apple’s complaint appears designed to draw that line sharply. By alleging requests for components, product samples and confidential documents, Apple is saying OpenAI crossed from recruiting talent into acquiring protected hardware information.
The filing names OpenAI as the defendant and describes the company’s conduct through Apple’s version of events. The available claims do not establish what OpenAI will argue in response, and they do not resolve whether any alleged conduct violated the law. For now, the lawsuit puts a bright spotlight on the messy intersection of AI hardware ambitions and the engineers who know how consumer devices actually get built.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge AI.
