OpenAI hits back at Apple's trade-secret suit over ex-engineers
Apple wants a court to muzzle two former designers who defected to OpenAI. OpenAI calls the suit 'careless, aggressive, and oddly personal' and refuses to back down.
The News
Apple has taken OpenAI to court, and OpenAI is refusing to go quietly. In a lawsuit that has quickly turned personal, Apple accuses two of its former designers of walking out with confidential material about unreleased products and handing an advantage to the ChatGPT maker.
The two people at the centre of the case are Tang Tan, a 25-year Apple veteran who once oversaw the design of the iPhone and Apple Watch and now serves as OpenAI's chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, a former iPhone engineer now on OpenAI's technical team. Apple's complaint says the pair took "secret and confidential information regarding" unreleased technologies, processes and products.
On Monday, 4 August 2026, Apple asked a court for a preliminary injunction to stop Liu, Tan and OpenAI from accessing, using or disclosing the alleged confidential information while the case proceeds, according to Reuters. Hours later, OpenAI fired back.
Why It Matters
That evening OpenAI published a blog post bluntly titled "Apple is getting this wrong." The company said Apple's request "is both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets," and branded the whole action "careless, aggressive, and oddly personal." OpenAI went further, publishing iMessage and email exchanges to rebut Apple's account and accusing Apple of relying on "cherry-picked communications."
Dragging private messages into a public blog post is not standard legal practice, and that is the point. This is a fight for public opinion as much as a courtroom battle. It also underscores how brutal the contest for elite hardware and AI talent has become. When a company that guards secrecy as fiercely as Apple resorts to an injunction, it signals that the movement of a handful of senior engineers is now treated as a strategic threat. The last comparable spectacle was the wave of self-driving talent suits between Waymo and Uber in 2017, which ended in a settlement worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Indian Angle
For India, the biggest lens is talent. Both Apple and OpenAI employ large numbers of Indian engineers, and Apple is expanding its own engineering footprint in Bengaluru and Hyderabad even as it scales iPhone assembly through Foxconn and Tata. A senior designer switching sides is exactly the scenario Indian employers fear as global AI firms recruit aggressively from Indian campuses and captive centres.
The legal contrast is sharp. India offers no dedicated trade-secrets statute; protection rests on contract and common law, and Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 makes most post-employment non-compete clauses void. That means an Indian employer in Apple's position could not simply bar an ex-employee from joining a rival. It would have to prove actual misuse of confidential information, a far higher bar. DPIIT has floated the idea of a formal trade-secrets law, and cases like this strengthen that argument.
There is a commercial angle too. Home-grown model builders such as Sarvam and Krutrim, and hardware-adjacent startups, are competing for the same scarce talent. A high-profile suit that chills engineer mobility could, ironically, help smaller Indian firms retain the people they train.
FAQ
When did this dispute become public?
Apple filed for a preliminary injunction on Monday, 4 August 2026, and OpenAI published its rebuttal blog post the same evening, making the fight public within hours.
Who are the employees at the centre of the case?
Tang Tan, a 25-year Apple veteran and now OpenAI's chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, a former iPhone engineer who now sits on OpenAI's technical team.
Could this happen the same way in India?
Not identically. Indian law voids most non-compete clauses under Section 27, so an employer would need to prove actual theft or misuse of confidential information rather than block a job move outright.
What does OpenAI say it wants?
OpenAI insists it neither has nor wants Apple's trade secrets and says the injunction is unnecessary and based on false information, framing Apple's move as aggressive and personal.
Where can I read the original announcement?
The Verge's report, linked below, carries the full detail and OpenAI's blog response.
This story was reported by The Verge. Read the full original coverage at The Verge.