Apple lawsuit reignites Musk and Altman feud over OpenAI secrets

Apple filed a lawsuit on July 10 in federal court in Northern California accusing OpenAI, io Products, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu of stealing trade secrets tied to consumer hardware. The complaint put Apple at the center of a legal fight that quickly spilled back onto X, where Elon Musk and Sam Altman resumed their public feud as the case reignited old tensions over who controls the next wave of AI products.

Apple’s filing alleged that OpenAI misappropriated confidential information including product designs, manufacturing processes, supply-chain strategies, unreleased hardware details and technical specifications. The company said Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple who joined OpenAI in 2026, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop and used it to download confidential Apple documents. Apple also said it uncovered a pattern of theft by former employees who moved to OpenAI, and claimed the misconduct reached “at every level” of OpenAI’s hardware effort.

The case named Tang Yew Tan, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, as a defendant. Tan previously led product design for iPhone and Apple Watch at Apple, a detail that sharpens the dispute over talent flows between the two companies. OpenAI responded publicly that it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” rejecting the core allegation.

The lawsuit landed against the backdrop of a high-profile 2024 partnership in which Apple and OpenAI integrated ChatGPT into iPhone, iPad and Mac software. That alliance, once framed as a practical distribution deal, now looks like a strategic fault line. Apple’s suit also reaches into OpenAI’s hardware ambitions through io Products, the device company tied to Jony Ive that OpenAI acquired in a roughly $6.5 billion deal last year.

The Musk-Altman conflict added another layer of pressure. Musk helped found OpenAI before breaking with the company, and he has repeatedly attacked its shift toward commercial products and partnerships. OpenAI has pushed deeper into hardware, infrastructure and consumer software under Altman, intensifying the rivalry. Musk and Altman traded insults on X after Apple’s filing became public, turning the courtroom fight into a broader contest over reputation and control.

The legal backdrop is already crowded. Musk separately sued OpenAI over its for-profit shift, and a jury ruled in May 2026 that he waited too long to bring that case. Apple’s suit now gives the conflict fresh momentum, with trade secrets, employee mobility and hardware strategy all colliding in one of the industry’s most consequential disputes.