Apple has intensified its legal battle against OpenAI, filing for a preliminary injunction and expedited discovery in a federal court. The iPhone maker alleges that a coordinated effort by OpenAI to recruit former Apple staff has led to the theft of sensitive trade secrets, including proprietary hardware designs and manufacturing techniques. Apple claims that an internal investigation has identified 11 additional former employees who may have been involved in or witnessed the mishandling of confidential data, expanding on its initial accusations against former engineer Chang Liu and former design executive Tang Tan. The company argues that an injunction is necessary to prevent irreparable harm while the case proceeds.
OpenAI has strongly denied the allegations, characterizing the lawsuit as a careless and aggressive attempt to stifle competition. In a public rebuttal, the AI startup published internal email and message exchanges that it claims contradict Apple’s narrative. OpenAI argues that Apple’s legal team previously misidentified individuals in its correspondence and failed to raise these specific concerns during earlier communications. Furthermore, OpenAI released messages showing that current Apple employees continued to contact Chang Liu for technical assistance and file locations long after his departure, suggesting that Apple’s own internal security and offboarding processes are to blame for any residual data access.
The legal dispute centers on OpenAI’s growing ambitions in the hardware space, specifically through its subsidiary, io Products. Apple contends that OpenAI’s recruitment strategy was designed to extract intellectual property to accelerate the development of competing consumer devices. As the case moves into its first substantive stage, the court must now weigh Apple’s request to restrict OpenAI’s use of alleged trade secrets against OpenAI’s defense that the lawsuit is based on factual errors and poor internal management at Apple. The outcome could have significant implications for OpenAI’s future product roadmap and its reported plans for an initial public offering.