Apple escalates OpenAI trade-secrets suit, eyes 11 more former staff

Apple has widened its trade-secrets case against OpenAI, filing for a preliminary injunction that would block OpenAI from building an AI device or other products it claims are based on stolen Apple technology. Beyond the two named engineers — senior systems engineer Chang Liu and Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan — Apple now says its investigation points to 11 additional former employees who may have witnessed or participated in the alleged theft, and it is asking the court for expedited discovery from OpenAI, its foundation, and the Jony Ive-co-founded hardware startup io.

The new filing sketches specific alleged conduct: a former employee reportedly met with Liu and another ex-Apple worker to discuss proprietary details about unannounced products ahead of a job interview, and another allegedly took screenshots of confidential documents on an unreleased product before interviewing at OpenAI. Apple also says several former staff now at OpenAI contacted the company to return Apple-issued devices they had kept after leaving — which Apple frames as further evidence the scheme was broader than its original complaint suggested.

OpenAI dismissed the injunction request as based on false information and unnecessary, insisting it neither has nor wants Apple’s trade secrets and is focused on its own products. It also went after Apple’s credibility, noting Apple emailed the wrong person after confusing two similar surnames, alleging Apple misrepresented consultations with its general counsel, and pointing out that the ‘residual access’ letting departed employees reach Apple’s systems stemmed from Apple’s own weak offboarding controls.