In a dramatic escalation of the trade secret dispute, OpenAI has now denied Apple's allegations of trade secret theft in a filing late Monday in US District Court in San Jose, California. According to Business Standard, OpenAI stated that "This dispute is a mess of Apple's own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else." The AI company contends that Apple is using the lawsuit to slow a potential competitor and discourage employee departures. OpenAI has hired roughly 400 employees from Apple for its hardware initiative, with the two companies noting this in court filings. The AI lab, led by CEO Sam Altman, argues that California law allows employees to freely move between rivals, and that Apple's policy of immediately escorting departing employees from premises does not give them enough time to return company devices or transfer internal files.
Apple has escalated its legal battle against OpenAI by claiming in a new court filing that the AI company is actively destroying crucial evidence. According to reports from Business Standard, Apple alleged that former iPhone engineer Chang Liu downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic and used it in his work at the AI company. The court brief was filed Monday in support of Apple's motion for expedited pretrial fact-finding in the lawsuit, which accuses the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets. As reported by Bloomberg News, Apple is now pressing for early document production, forensic imaging of devices and accounts, and depositions of key witnesses as part of its discovery demands.
As reported by Business Standard, Apple claimed that OpenAI 'only recently' provided a key piece of evidence: an Apple-issued MacBook that Liu had been using since departing the company. Initial forensic analysis found that Liu and others at OpenAI were well aware of his continued unauthorized access to Apple's third-party cloud storage providers. The filing also claims that Liu 'sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply.' According to Bloomberg News, Apple alleges that Liu kept an Apple-issued laptop, exploited residual network access and an authentication bug, and downloaded dozens of confidential files—engineering presentations, specs for unreleased products, and manufacturing details for main logic boards—while already working for OpenAI.
According to Business Standard, OpenAI has maintained that it adhered to industrywide recruiting standards when interviewing candidates from Apple and insists that Liu was simply trying to help a former colleague at Apple when accessing the cloud data. The company published text message excerpts to help bolster this argument. OpenAI has also pushed to have the case dismissed entirely. In its latest filing, OpenAI argues that Apple encourages its employees to use personal iCloud accounts to access Apple work documents, making it difficult for departing employees to separate personal and company information. The company claims that Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, said he returned Apple prototypes before departing and only retained non-confidential materials, including an employee departure checklist that was not confidential. OpenAI contends that employees 'can leave a company like Apple that has struggled to adopt AI and move to an exciting startup that builds innovative products,' and that Apple cannot claim those choices are unlawful.
As reported by Business Standard, Apple is seeking monetary damages and an order requiring OpenAI to halt the alleged conduct and destroy any proprietary materials. The company asked a federal judge to immediately order OpenAI to stop using stolen trade secrets earlier this month. According to Bloomberg News, Apple is asking the court to look before the hard drives get 'accidentally' wiped. The case centers on Liu, an eight-year Apple senior systems electrical engineer who left in January 2026, and Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who led iPhone and Watch product design and is now OpenAI's chief hardware officer. A hearing on Apple's expedited-discovery motion is scheduled for October 1 before Judge Edward Davila, though the court could rule sooner.
According to Business Standard, the once-cordial working relationship between the iPhone maker and ChatGPT creator has frayed over the last year, particularly after OpenAI enlisted former Apple design guru Jony Ive to help develop upcoming hardware products. The first device from that collaboration will be a doughnut-shaped smart speaker, roughly the size of a hockey puck, that includes moving parts to lend the gadget personality. As Bloomberg News notes, the case sits at the collision of two of tech's most closely watched product efforts: Apple's next devices under new CEO John Ternus and OpenAI's push into consumer hardware after buying io. The lawsuit represented a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two companies, which just two years ago forged a partnership intended to boost ChatGPT's reach and help Apple gain a firmer footing in AI, but the relationship quickly soured as competition in the AI industry intensified.
