--- title: Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI... description: Apple has sent legal preservation letters to approximately 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, escalating its trade secret lawsuit filed the previous... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/report-apple-sends-legal-letters-to-dozens-of-openai-employees-pravsis0e twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees | daily.dev og:description: Apple has sent legal preservation letters to approximately 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, escalating its trade secret lawsuit filed the previous... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/report-apple-sends-legal-letters-to-dozens-of-openai-employees-pravsis0e og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/pRaVsIS0E.png og:image:alt: Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees **[Andrew M](https://daily.dev/sources/dup6ye036hupdshygexyu)** · [@andrewma](https://daily.dev/andrewma) · 2 min read · 6 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Apple has sent legal preservation letters to approximately 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, escalating its trade secret lawsuit filed the previous week. The lawsuit alleges a coordinated effort to misappropriate confidential information related to Apple's hardware engineering and product development. Key figures include Tang Tan, OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and 24-year Apple veteran, and Chang Liu, a former senior Apple electrical engineer. Apple notes that over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI and believes the alleged misconduct may be far broader than a few individuals. OpenAI has denied the allegations, stating it is unaware of any evidence supporting the complaint. Apple is seeking an injunction to stop OpenAI from using its information in AI hardware development, along with damages. ## Content Apple has reportedly sent legal letters to dozens of former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, telling them to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as it continues to pursue its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company. The [_Financial Times_](https://www.ft.com/content/1b8c9d52-88a9-426b-ba47-f1811f859166)($) reports that Apple has targeted around 40 former employees with legal preservation letters, acting on its belief that the alleged misappropriation of confidential information may extend beyond the individuals named in its original complaint. The development follows Apple's [lawsuit filed last week against OpenAI](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai/), in which the company alleges a coordinated effort to obtain confidential information relating to its hardware engineering and product development. Apple claims OpenAI recruited key engineers, including former Apple executives Tang Tan and Chang Liu, and benefited from proprietary designs, manufacturing processes, and other trade secrets. Tan is OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and a 24-year Apple veteran who led product design, while Liu is on the hardware team at OpenAI after working as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple. The complaint says that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI and suggests that the alleged misconduct is broader than a few isolated actions by individual employees. OpenAI has denied the allegations, saying in a statement to [_Bloomberg_](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-14/openai-says-it-s-not-aware-of-any-evidence-that-apple-lawsuit-has-merit) this week that it is "not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit." Apple has requested an injunction requiring OpenAI to cease using any Apple information during the development of OpenAI's AI hardware device. Apple is also seeking damages and suing Tan and Liu for breach of contract for violating their employment agreements. The company believes the evidence uncovered so far may represent only the "tip of the iceberg," according to its lawsuit. --- Tags: [#apple](https://daily.dev/tags/apple), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#gpu](https://daily.dev/tags/gpu) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/report-apple-sends-legal-letters-to-dozens-of-openai-employees-pravsis0e) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https://daily.dev/posts/report-apple-sends-legal-letters-to-dozens-of-openai-employees-pravsis0e","headline":"Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees","text":"Apple has sent legal preservation letters to approximately 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, escalating its trade secret lawsuit filed the previous week. The lawsuit alleges a coordinated effort to misappropriate confidential information related to Apple's hardware engineering and product development. Key figures include Tang Tan, OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and 24-year Apple veteran, and Chang Liu, a former senior Apple electrical engineer. Apple notes that over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI and believes the alleged misconduct may be far broader than a few individuals. OpenAI has denied the allegations, stating it is unaware of any evidence supporting the complaint. 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