apple sued its own chatgpt partner for running a stolen-parts 'show and tell' — the texts say 'LOL so funny'

ChatGPT ships on every new iPhone. Apple is now suing the company that makes it for stealing iPhone secrets.

Tang Yew Tan — 24-year Apple veteran, former iPhone VP, now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer — allegedly ran what Apple’s complaint calls “show and tell” sessions: job candidates headed to OpenAI were told to bring actual parts from Apple to their interviews. Not portfolios. Parts.

Chang Liu, a senior systems engineer who left Apple for OpenAI in 2026, found after leaving that a bug still gave him access to Apple’s cloud storage. His response, now federal exhibit material: “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.”

The complaint names over 400 former Apple employees now at OpenAI. io Products — Jony Ive’s hardware design firm, acquired by OpenAI — is a named defendant. The most famous Apple defector isn’t.

Apple’s 2024 deal to put ChatGPT on iPhone made OpenAI prestigious enough to pull those 400+ employees out of Cupertino. The complaint alleges they were coached to carry Apple’s secrets out with them. Apple built the magnet that hollowed out its own hardware division. That partner’s software still ships on every iPhone off the line.

“LOL so funny” is now a federal exhibit.