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answer: direct
beat: ai-industry
source: 1 article · updated: July 10, 2026
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Who are Chang Liu and Tang Tan?

Both are former Apple employees now named as individual defendants. Chang Liu, an ex-senior systems electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple, allegedly exploited an authentication bug to download confidential files after leaving. Tang Tan, OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and a 24-year Apple veteran, allegedly used Apple's internal codenames while recruiting Apple staff for OpenAI.

Answered in

Apple Sues OpenAI: Inside the Trade-Secrets Lawsuit That Reads Like a Corporate Spy Thriller

Apple's 41-page federal suit accuses OpenAI's hardware chief and an ex-engineer of stealing trade secrets via codenames and a security bug.

Crashtech Editorial July 10, 2026 AI Business & Money

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