# Apple lawsuit threatens OpenAI’s hardware plans > Source: > Published: 2026-07-11 03:14:31+00:00 f OpenAI and Apple still appeared to be loyal partners, that illusion evaporated in a July 10 court filing. Apple brought a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday in US District Court, presenting a vast trove of evidence that former Apple employees systematically absconded with trade secrets during and after being hired by OpenAI to work on its [hardware devices designed by Jony Ive](https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/openai-s-6-device-push-reveals-a-frontrunner). Ive isn't mentioned in the lawsuit. But at the center of the complaint are Tang Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years and is now OpenAI's chief hardware engineer, and Chang Liu, who worked at Apple for eight years and joined OpenAI's hardware team in January. The legal filing, seen by The Deep View, alleges that these two led an illegal campaign to take confidential files, secret product designs, and insider information about how Apple builds its devices, chooses suppliers, and manufactures products. The suit also alleges that these two coached former Apple employees to bring physical Apple parts to OpenAI interviews and showed them how to circumvent Apple's security protocols to exfiltrate valuable information before leaving the company. "Our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies," An Apple spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Deep View. "Significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams' hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so." The Deep View also reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this story if and when there's a response. In the suit, Apple requested that OpenAI: **Stop using all Apple trade secrets or disclosing them to others****Destroy illegally obtained information****Return stolen hardware****Pay damages for the value OpenAI got by skipping years of R&D****Guarantee future OpenAI products are not based on Apple plans** It's unclear which devices OpenAI is building, but the reports sound very similar to the kinds of devices Apple is rumored to be considering: smart glasses, a wearable pendant, and earbuds with cameras. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has explained that a different kind of device is needed for the AI era than anything Apple or other device makers have built so far. But he's also never been shy about his admiration for Apple's products. "I think the iPhone is currently the greatest piece of consumer hardware ever made, by a lot. But it was not meant for a world where you need a piece of hardware that could absorb all of the context of your life," Altman said in a [recent interview](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TjaF6rmHL3c). "[This is] a very interesting conversation. I would love this to be referenceable by my personal AGI later. But my phone is in my pocket, and it's not going to understand. And I would like a device that, if I want it to, can participate and understand and know about this conversation." ## Our Deeper *View* Apple is requesting that the merits of its case be decided in a trial by jury. If Apple were to prevail in the case, it could significantly delay and/or impair OpenAI's hardware ambitions by limiting its options to product directions that Apple hasn't planned to pursue. A successful Apple outcome would put the onus on OpenAI to prove the originality of its hardware and device plans. It's also significant to note that the lawsuit reported that OpenAI has hired over 400 former Apple employees. That's a stunning admission, and perhaps a wake-up call for Apple and its incoming CEO John Ternus. Nevertheless, in the lawsuit document, Apple stated something that appears to cut to the heart of the matter: "That OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple’s trade secrets does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts." If OpenAI viewed devices as a key piece of its path to a profitable future, those plans are now in doubt.