# Apple sues OpenAI, alleging employee accessed circuit plans after jumping ship > Source: > Published: 2026-09-01 02:44:46+00:00 Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels # Apple sues OpenAI, alleging employee accessed circuit plans after jumping ship A former Apple engineer allegedly exploited a software bug to pull proprietary hardware files weeks after starting at the AI startup. Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a systematic campaign to steal proprietary hardware secrets, with a former Apple engineer at the center of the allegations. The suit, filed July 10, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names OpenAI, its recently acquired subsidiary io Products, and two individuals: Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu. Liu, described in the complaint as a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple, is accused of exploiting a bug in Apple’s systems to access confidential circuit plans and technical specifications after he had already started working at OpenAI. Apple alleges he pulled the files without authorization, weeks into his new role at the startup. ## What Apple says happened Apple alleges Liu actively coached colleagues who were also planning to leave for OpenAI, advising them on how to sidestep Apple’s security measures before their departures. Among the materials allegedly taken: technical specifications and data tied to unreleased Apple hardware projects. The filing describes repeated, deliberate retrieval of sensitive files over a period of weeks, made possible by a bug that Liu is accused of knowingly exploiting rather than reporting. The suit also takes aim at the broader hiring dynamic between the two companies. Apple claims that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and frames this concentration of ex-Apple talent not as a coincidence of Silicon Valley’s competitive labor market but as evidence of a coordinated recruitment strategy designed, at least in part, to funnel proprietary knowledge out of Cupertino. ## The io Products connection OpenAI’s acquisition of io Products, the hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, adds a layer of context that Apple’s legal team clearly wanted front and center. Ive spent decades at Apple shaping the physical design of the iPhone, Mac, and iPad before departing in 2019. Apple’s lawsuit names io Products as a co-defendant alongside OpenAI, suggesting the company views the acquisition not just as a competitive move but as a vehicle through which its intellectual property allegedly flowed. OpenAI denied the allegations, saying it is committed to innovation and has no interest in misappropriating other companies’ trade secrets. Apple is seeking injunctions to prevent OpenAI from continuing to use any of the allegedly stolen information. **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our [Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).