Apple claims OpenAI defendant used company MacBook to steal hardware trade secrets

Apple isn’t just mad that a former engineer allegedly walked off with company secrets. It’s mad about the laptop he walked off with, too.

The iPhone maker’s federal lawsuit against OpenAI, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, centers on claims that a former Apple engineer named Chang Liu retained an Apple-issued MacBook after leaving the company in January 2026. That MacBook, according to Apple, contained a power-converter schematic now being used as evidence in the case. More importantly, Apple alleges Liu exploited an authentication vulnerability to access and download sensitive engineering documents and specifications for unreleased products while already on OpenAI’s payroll.

The allegations in detail

The suit names OpenAI, its hardware subsidiary io Products, OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, and Liu as defendants. Apple’s complaint alleges systematic trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract, painting a picture of what it describes as a deliberate campaign to pilfer confidential hardware designs and supplier information.

Tan’s alleged conduct is a different flavor of problematic. Apple claims he engaged in inappropriate recruitment practices, including asking job candidates to present Apple hardware components during interviews and using internal Apple project codenames.

The personnel pipeline between the two companies is substantial. Apple says more than 400 former Apple employees currently work at OpenAI or io Products.

The $6.5B deal that set the stage

The backdrop to all of this is OpenAI’s reported $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products in 2025. That deal signaled OpenAI’s serious ambitions in hardware, a domain where Apple has spent decades building proprietary advantages in chip design, power management, and supply chain relationships.

Apple’s complaint frames the situation as a threat to “decades of trade secrets in the hardware industry.”

OpenAI has pushed back on the characterization. The company asserts that it has no interest in appropriating other companies’ trade secrets. As of late August 2026, OpenAI has filed motions to dismiss the case, and the matter remains active in court.

What this fight means for Silicon Valley’s talent wars

California law is famously hostile to non-compete agreements, which means companies like Apple can’t simply bar departing employees from joining rivals. Trade secret law becomes the primary weapon instead. The question in cases like this usually isn’t whether someone brought general expertise to a new job. It’s whether they brought specific files, designs, or processes that belong to their former employer.