Apple surprised the tech industry after financial markets closed Friday with news the company has sued OpenAI, alleging theft of trade secrets for ChatGPT hardware. The lawsuit particularly targets some senior ex-Apple employees now working at OpenAI.
Apple’s suit names two former employees — Chang Liu and Tang Tan, former vice president for product design, iPhone and Apple Watch — as well as OpenAI and that company’s recently-acquired firm, io Products, alleging “trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.”
Jony Ive, who sold io Products to OpenAI, is not named in the lawsuit, though it seems relevant that Tan was one of the senior ex-Apple executives who founded that company.
For its part, OpenAI issued a brief statement in response to the litigation. “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” the company said. “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
The allegations against Tan
