$245 million. That is what Uber paid in stock to end Waymo’s trade secrets case in 2018, and it remains the figure other Silicon Valley litigants measure themselves against. The latest fight to reach a calendar has a date attached instead: Apple’s suit against OpenAI is set for trial on July 19, 2027.
Waymo v. Uber: the number that set the bar
Waymo, which began as Google’s self-driving car project, accused former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski of taking autonomous-vehicle secrets to Uber. Levandowski had cofounded the self-driving truck company Otto in January 2016, and Uber bought Otto that August. IT Pro reported that he was said to have walked out of Google with 14,000 confidential documents. Uber conceded the files existed but maintained it never used them.
The trial lasted only five days of testimony. Then the two sides settled. Uber handed Alphabet’s self-driving unit a 0.34% equity stake, which CNN’s sources valued at about $245 million at a $72 billion valuation, and agreed not to put Waymo technology into its products. Waymo had originally sought $1 billion, an independent monitor and a formal apology. It got none of the last two. IT Pro, citing Reuters, said Uber had already turned down a $500 million equity proposal earlier that same week.
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said the company should have handled the Otto purchase differently. He also said Uber did not believe any trade secrets reached it.
Apple v. OpenAI: hardware, hiring and a hearing schedule
Apple filed on July 10, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The defendants are OpenAI, io Products (the hardware startup co-founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, which OpenAI acquired in 2025) and two former employees. Apple did not name Ive.
The complaint says Chang Liu, who spent more than eight years at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer, kept his Apple-issued computer after leaving in January and used a security flaw to reach internal file storage. India Today relays Apple’s claim that he downloaded “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files.” Apple also alleges Liu helped Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, still at Apple then, prepare for OpenAI interviews with confidential material.
Tang Yew Tan sits at the center too. He spent 24 years at Apple, rising to vice-president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, and is now OpenAI’s hardware chief. Apple says he “methodically” emailed himself supplier material and industry summaries before leaving. It adds that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and that OpenAI recruited them to build a competing smart speaker. “That OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple’s trade secrets does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts,” Apple said in its filing.
OpenAI has pushed back hard. In a response published in August it called the suit “careless, aggressive and oddly personal.” It has said it is not aware of any evidence the complaint has merit.
The courtroom has moved in Apple’s favor on one point so far. A federal judge partially granted Apple early access to evidence, ordering the defendants to hand over documents tied to hiring former Apple staff for OpenAI’s consumer hardware group, including internal communications and material collected from electronic devices. Judge Edward J. Davila has since approved the schedule: a final pretrial conference on June 24, 2027, and trial on July 19, 2027, at 9 am.
Sources
- Apple vs OpenAI: What the trade secret theft lawsuit is about (The Economic Times)
- Apple vs OpenAI heads to court, trial date set for trade secrets lawsuit (India Today)
- What we learned in the Waymo v. Uber case (CNN, via WRAL)
- Uber vs Waymo: Uber settles Waymo lawsuit for $245 million (IT Pro)
