Apple, the world’s largest technology company, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the AI-powered tech firm behind the popular chatbot, ChatGPT. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, of engaging in a pattern of trade secret theft and breach of contract.

According to the lawsuit, OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple were involved in the alleged misconduct, which included using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, and coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures.

The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Tan, asked for details about Apple’s unannounced products and used Apple’s confidential information to develop OpenAI’s own hardware product. The filing references a proprietary metal finishing technique that was used by OpenAI after it allegedly misled a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to do so.

Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, is accused of being directly involved in the alleged misconduct. The lawsuit also names Chang Liu, a former Apple employee who worked as a senior systems electrical engineer, as being involved in the alleged trade secret theft.

Liu is accused of failing to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company for OpenAI in 2026 and using the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents. The lawsuit alleges that the stolen documents included information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data.

Apple says that the behavior of these former employees is part of OpenAI’s strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information. The company claims that OpenAI and its partners have even used Apple’s confidential information while developing their own hardware product.

Apple sent a letter to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns, but received no response, the company said in the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that the behavior of OpenAI’s senior leadership is a deliberate attempt to extract Apple’s confidential information and use it to develop OpenAI’s own hardware product.

Like many tech companies, Apple typically investigates potential trade secret theft or other improper activity by analyzing communications that took place on company-owned devices and reading through its server logs. By taking the case to court, Apple will have an opportunity to learn more about the extent of the alleged operation through the legal discovery process.

Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the company to return any confidential Apple materials, and preserve evidence related to the case. The lawsuit is a significant development in the ongoing rivalry between Apple and OpenAI, and highlights the increasing importance of trade secrets in the tech industry.