An OpenAI engineer kept his Apple laptop, and it triggered a lawsuit

At the centre of Apple’s new trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI is a former iPhone hardware engineer named Chang Liu, who joined OpenAI in January 2026. According to Apple’s complaint, filed July 10 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Liu kept an Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company, exploited an authentication bug to reach Apple’s shared network folders, and downloaded dozens of confidential hardware files on unreleased products. Apple says he left a message on a colleague’s laptop calling the access ‘so funny.’

The lawsuit also names OpenAI’s chief hardware officer Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who led design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple alleges Tan directed job candidates still employed at Apple to bring ‘actual parts’ to interviews for ‘show and tell’ sessions.

Apple further claims OpenAI approached one of its manufacturing partners to demonstrate a metal-finishing technique Apple invented, misleading the partner into believing Apple had signed off. Apple sent OpenAI a warning letter in February 2026, which the lawsuit says went unanswered.

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri denied the allegations: ‘We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.’

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Steve Jurvetson