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Apple Adds New Allegations to Trade Secrets Lawsuit Against OpenAI

Apple has filed a new court brief in its trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that former engineer Chang Liu used confidential Apple files and that evidence was destroyed. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing and disputed the allegations.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 1h ago

Apple Files New Brief in Trade Secrets Case Against OpenAI

Apple has escalated its legal battle against OpenAI, filing a court brief on Aug 31 in support of its motion for expedited pre-trial fact-finding in a lawsuit accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets. The filing centers on former iPhone engineer Chang Liu, who left Apple for OpenAI in January and is one of more than 400 former Apple employees now working at the AI company.

According to the filing, OpenAI "only recently" provided an Apple-issued MacBook that Liu had been using since departing the company. Apple's initial forensic analysis of the laptop alleges that Liu knew he had access to Apple's third-party cloud storage and used it to download "dozens of confidential Apple files," including a circuit schematic. Apple further claims that Liu used that schematic to run simulations in his work for OpenAI and that the laptop revealed previously unknown instances of stolen information, with Liu having "referred to using a tool and related software packages with names identical to proprietary internal engineering tools used at Apple."

Apple's lawyers wrote that the MacBook contains evidence that Liu "sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply." The filing also claims that, after learning he was the subject of an internal investigation, Liu directed a coworker at OpenAI to "restore" any Apple-issued devices, which Apple claims was a way to erase forensic evidence.

Background and Legal Context

The lawsuit stems from Apple's original complaint alleging that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information, components, drawings, and other materials related to unreleased products while taking steps to cover its tracks. Apple is seeking monetary damages and an order requiring OpenAI to halt the alleged conduct and destroy any proprietary materials.

The latest filing argues that the MacBook shows Apple is not conducting "fishing expeditions" but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion on Oct 1.

OpenAI's Response

OpenAI has pushed to have the case dismissed and has maintained that it adhered to industrywide recruiting standards when interviewing candidates from Apple. The company insists that Liu was simply trying to help a former colleague at Apple when accessing cloud data, and it has published text message excerpts to bolster that argument.

A representative for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new filing.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Engadget

Framing: The headline emphasizes that Apple is adding more allegations to its trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI. — Measured, legalistic

as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Apple filed a support document as part of a push to obtain expedited discovery
The document revealed information found on a MacBook laptop used by former employee Chang Liu after he began working at OpenAI
Apple's initial forensic investigation alleges Liu knew he had access to Apple's third-party cloud storage and used it to download 'dozens of confidential Apple files,' including a circuit schematic
Apple claimed Liu used that schematic to run simulations in the course of his work for OpenAI
Apple claimed the laptop revealed previously unknown instances of stolen information, including that Liu 'referred to using a tool and related software packages with names identical to proprietary internal engineering tools used at Apple'
Apple claimed Liu directed a coworker at OpenAI to 'restore' any Apple-issued devices after learning he was the subject of an internal investigation, which Apple claimed was a way to erase forensic evidence

Read the source article →

The Straits Times

Framing: The headline emphasizes Apple's accusation that OpenAI is destroying evidence in a trade secrets case.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Apple filed a court brief on Aug 31 in support of its motion for expedited pre-trial fact-finding in a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets.
The filing claims former iPhone engineer Chang Liu 'not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic but also used it in his work' at OpenAI.
Liu left Apple for OpenAI in January and is one of more than 400 former Apple employees who went to work for the AI company.
OpenAI 'only recently' provided an Apple-issued MacBook that Liu had been using since departing the company.
Initial forensic analysis found that 'Mr Liu and others at OpenAI were well aware' of his continued unauthorized access to Apple's third-party cloud storage providers.
The laptop contains evidence that Liu 'sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply'.
Apple's original complaint accused OpenAI of encouraging Apple employees to share information, components, drawings, and other materials related to unreleased products while covering its tracks.
OpenAI has maintained it adhered to industrywide recruiting standards and insists Liu was trying to help a former colleague when accessing cloud data.
OpenAI published text message excerpts to bolster its argument.
Apple's lawyers wrote that the MacBook shows Apple is not conducting 'fishing expeditions' but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed.
Apple is seeking monetary damages and an order requiring OpenAI to halt the alleged conduct and destroy any proprietary materials.
The judge is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct 1.
A representative for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimApple filed a court brief on Aug 31 in support of its motion for expedited pre-trial fact-finding in a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimThe filing claims former iPhone engineer Chang Liu 'not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic but also used it in his work' at OpenAI.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimLiu left Apple for OpenAI in January.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimLiu is one of more than 400 former Apple employees who went to work for OpenAI.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimOpenAI 'only recently' provided an Apple-issued MacBook that Chang Liu had been using since departing the company.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimApple's forensic analysis found that 'Mr Liu and others at OpenAI were well aware' of Liu's continued unauthorized access to Apple's third-party cloud storage providers.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimApple's lawyers wrote that the MacBook contains evidence that Chang Liu 'sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply'.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimApple's original complaint accused OpenAI of encouraging Apple employees to share information, components, drawings, and other materials related to unreleased products while taking steps to cover its tracks.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimOpenAI has maintained that it adhered to industrywide recruiting standards and insists that Liu was simply trying to help a former colleague at Apple when accessing the cloud data.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimApple is seeking monetary damages and an order requiring OpenAI to stop using stolen trade secrets and destroy any proprietary materials.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimThe judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion on Oct 1.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimChang Liu is a former senior system electrical engineer at Apple.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Engadget as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC
ClaimApple's initial forensic investigation alleges Liu knew he had access to Apple's third-party cloud storage and used it to download 'dozens of confidential Apple files,' including a circuit schematic.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Engadget as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC
ClaimApple claimed that Liu used the confidential Apple circuit schematic to run simulations in his work for OpenAI.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Engadget as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC
ClaimApple claimed that the laptop revealed that Liu 'referred to using a tool and related software packages with names identical to proprietary internal engineering tools used at Apple'.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Engadget as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC
ClaimApple claimed that after learning he was the subject of an internal investigation, Chang Liu directed a coworker to 'restore' any Apple-issued devices, which Apple claimed was a way to erase forensic evidence.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Engadget as of Sep 1, 2026, 12:17 AM UTC
ClaimOpenAI has pushed to have the case dismissed.	ConfidenceLow	StatusSingle-source via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Engadget, The Straits Times 17 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01