Elon Musk trolled OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the weekend, reviving his “Scam Altman” attacks after Apple sued the AI company on July 10, alleging it stole trade secrets through former employees working at OpenAI.
On X, Musk accused Altman of “taking scamming to a whole new level” in response to Apple’s lawsuit, which names OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan and former Apple engineer Chang Liu as central figures in the alleged scheme.
Altman hit back immediately, criticizing Musk for “selling public market investors on short-term space datacenters,” referring to SpaceX’s plans to launch space-based data centers. Musk responded by claiming SpaceX will begin flying the data centers next year and restating his accusation: “After stealing an open source AI charity, you then stole all of Apple’s phone technology!”
The exchange marks the latest public clash between the two tech leaders, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but have been locked in a bitter rivalry for years. Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in 2024, alleging they violated the company’s nonprofit founding agreement by prioritizing profits over AI safety. A California jury unanimously rejected Musk’s claims on May 18, 2026, finding that he had waited too long to file the lawsuit under the statute of limitations.
Apple’s Trade Secret Allegations
Apple’s complaint, filed in federal court in Northern California, alleges that OpenAI orchestrated a coordinated campaign to steal hardware trade secrets. According to the filing, Tang Tan, now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer and formerly Apple’s VP of product design, encouraged Apple employees interviewing at OpenAI to bring “actual parts” to interviews for “show and tell” sessions and shared Apple’s confidential exit-interview security procedures with new hires.
Chang Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer who joined OpenAI in January 2026, allegedly failed to return an Apple-issued laptop and exploited an authentication vulnerability to continue accessing Apple’s internal network while already working at OpenAI, downloading dozens of confidential hardware-related files about unreleased products and proprietary data.
Apple claims in the lawsuit that other former employees similarly emailed themselves confidential Apple information to private accounts and used their knowledge of Apple trade secrets to help develop OpenAI’s AI hardware devices. The company states that OpenAI currently employs more than 400 former Apple workers. OpenAI has denied the allegations, telling Yahoo Finance: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
Sources
- Yahoo Finance — Elon Musk’s trolling of Sam Altman, the public X exchange, details of Musk’s previous lawsuit loss in May 2026, and Apple’s specific allegations against OpenAI.
- CNBC — Apple’s lawsuit filing date, Musk’s prior lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, and jury verdict details.
- Wikipedia — Confirmation that jury decided in favor of Altman on May 18, 2026, based on statute of limitations.
- NBC News — Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI and the two former employees, and Musk’s previous lawsuit dismissal.
