Apple–OpenAI Trade-Secret Case Widens: ~40 Ex-Apple Staff Get Legal Notices
Apple sent legal warnings to about 40 former employees now at OpenAI to preserve evidence, signaling the dispute reaches beyond its original 41-page complaint.
From two defendants to dozens
According to the Financial Times, Apple has sent legal warnings to roughly 40 former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, asking them to preserve documents and communications potentially relevant to the case. It is the latest move after Apple filed a trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI last week, suggesting Apple believes the scope of alleged leakage extends well beyond the individuals originally named.
The complaint: an alleged systematic poaching
On July 10, 2026, Apple filed a 41-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, suing OpenAI and two former Apple employees — OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Tan and former Apple systems electrical engineer Chang Liu. Apple alleges OpenAI systematically recruited ex-Apple staff to obtain trade secrets such as unreleased products, components and supplier relationships, in order to accelerate its consumer AI hardware effort.
- Tang Tan: spent 24 years at Apple, formerly leading product design for iPhone and Apple Watch, before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer. Apple says he used confidential project code names in interviews to probe candidates about unreleased Apple products.
- Chang Liu: left Apple in January 2026 for OpenAI's hardware team. Apple alleges he kept a company laptop after leaving and, exploiting an authentication flaw, repeatedly accessed Apple's internal network without authorization, downloading dozens of confidential files including technical presentations and unreleased product specs — even texting a colleague "LOL" upon realizing he still had access.
The bigger picture
Apple states that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and that a February 2026 letter asking OpenAI to explain safeguards went unanswered. The notices to 40 ex-employees are a classic litigation hold, indicating discovery is expanding. The case underscores how fiercely talent mobility and trade-secret boundaries are being contested amid the AI-hardware arms race.