Apple has sent legal letters to approximately 40 former employees now at OpenAI, requesting them to preserve relevant documents as part of its ongoing trade secret lawsuit against the AI company. This action follows a lawsuit launched by Apple alleging that OpenAI has systematically acquired confidential information through hiring former Apple staff, including significant figures like Tang Tan and Chang Liu. Apple believes that over 400 ex-employees now work at OpenAI, and claims the alleged misconduct might extend beyond identified individuals. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing, stating it is unaware of any evidence supporting Apple's claims. Apple seeks an injunction against OpenAI's use of its information and is suing Tan and Liu for breach of contract.

Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees

Friday July 17, 2026 3:56 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple has reportedly sent legal letters to dozens of former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, telling them to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as it continues to pursue its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company.

OpenAI vs Apple Feature scaled

The Financial Times ($) reports that Apple has targeted around 40 former employees with legal preservation letters, acting on its belief that the alleged misappropriation of confidential information may extend beyond the individuals named in its original complaint.

The development follows Apple's lawsuit filed last week against OpenAI, in which the company alleges a coordinated effort to obtain confidential information relating to its hardware engineering and product development.

Apple claims OpenAI recruited key engineers, including former Apple executives Tang Tan and Chang Liu, and benefited from proprietary designs, manufacturing processes, and other trade secrets. Tan is OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and a 24-year Apple veteran who led product design, while Liu is on the hardware team at OpenAI after working as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple.

The complaint says that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI and suggests that the alleged misconduct is broader than a few isolated actions by individual employees. OpenAI has denied the allegations, saying in a statement to Bloomberg this week that it is "not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit."

Apple has requested an injunction requiring OpenAI to cease using any Apple information during the development of OpenAI's AI hardware device. Apple is also seeking damages and suing Tan and Liu for breach of contract for violating their employment agreements. The company believes the evidence uncovered so far may represent only the "tip of the iceberg," according to its lawsuit.

Tags: Financial Times, Apple Lawsuits, OpenAI

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Top Rated Comments

threeseed

23 hours ago at 04:40 am

Well it's not illegal to hire former employees of another company, especially in California and a lot of previous knowledge lives in someone's very own brain. We used to call it "work experience" and "developed skills" and it's also not illegal to order components. It would be thrown out as coincidental

\* It is illegal to ask them to bring confidential prototypes and data.

\* It is illegal to hack into company systems in order to steal trade secrets.

\* It is illegal to approach suppliers and pretend to be an Apple employee whilst actually an OpenAI one.

Apple's legal team aren't idiots. They know the difference between someone taking a job at a new company and bringing actual hardware and data with them.

Score: 20 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

dynamojoe

23 hours ago at 04:58 am

So Apple is now just accusing any ex employee.. man have they got a complex... All Apple is trying to do, as per usual, is come up with bogus lawsuits BS to block the competition to gain market share and consumer trust.

Oh, such drama. Apple has sent preservation letters (not a lawsuit) to less than a tenth of former Apple employees at one specific company that's notorious for ignoring intellectual property, and you state it's "any ex employee" and they "got a complex". If your neighbors start taking parts off your car and reading your mail you'd do exactly what Apple is doing.

Score: 16 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

rorschach

23 hours ago at 04:46 am

So Apple is now just accusing any ex employee.. man have they got a complex... All Apple is trying to do, as per usual, is come up with bogus lawsuits BS to block the competition to gain market share and consumer trust.

So you think they're just sending these to random people with zero evidence?

Score: 15 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

rorschach

23 hours ago at 05:16 am

Yes. This is Apple, they literally tried to argue in a court of law, around the globe, they owned the rights to trade mark exclusively an oblong shape and the colours black and white, to block Samsung devices from sale.

A completely false (and irrelevant) characterization of that lawsuit. Apple made neither of those claims.

Score: 14 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

neuropsychguy

23 hours ago at 04:28 am

How do you even know without your own corporate espionage?

OpenAI hired hundreds of people away from Apple. OpenAI is working on hardware products. Apple doesn't need a "spy" to figure this out; they usually just track the data walking out their own front door. Before high-level engineers leave, corporate security teams run digital forensics that flag mass downloads, USB transfers, or emails sent to personal accounts, leaving a 'paper' trail. It's highly likely the former Apple employees receiving these letters (some dozens out of the hundreds who were hired away) left some sort of digital signature that was flagged.

Also, Apple works with a tight-knit network of global suppliers; if OpenAI starts ordering custom components that are similar to Apple's manufacturing specifications, those suppliers or matching patent filings will quickly sound the alarm back to Apple. Maybe those count as "spies" but they don't need to be coming from within OpenAI.

Score: 13 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

ChamomileTea

1 day ago at 04:05 am

Sam Altman's hardware is going to fail miserably.

Hardware is hard.

And designing it, producing it, servicing it, selling it, is a long road.

It is very different from code, you need real world business relationships for starts.

Score: 13 Votes ( Like | Disagree)

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