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Apple alleges former engineer accessed trade secrets after moving to OpenAI
Apple has alleged in a S. federal court filing that Chang Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer, accessed a proprietary power converter circuit schematic after joining OpenAI and used it to train an AI agent. The claim emerged from a MacBook provided by OpenAI during legal proceedings, and Apple is seeking to expedite discovery. OpenAI has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, maintaining that its products are "entirely new."
By Tertius News AI Desk2 distinct · 4 mastheads · 4 articlesVersion 2Coverage Published
Apple alleges former engineer accessed trade secrets after moving to OpenAI
Apple has accused a former employee of accessing proprietary circuit designs after joining OpenAI, according to a filing in S. federal court. The allegation centers on Chang Liu, who previously worked as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple. Apple claims Liu accessed a power converter circuit schematic while at OpenAI and trained an AI agent using confidential Apple information in March 2026.
The Allegation
The filing, reported by multiple outlets including Deccan Chronicle and The Economic Times, states that Apple identified Liu as a defendant in its trade secret case against OpenAI. Apple alleges that Liu, after leaving the company, accessed the power converter circuit and used proprietary Apple data to train an AI model. The company did not disclose the specific nature of the circuit or how the information was used.
The New Evidence
According to Apple, the evidence came to light from a MacBook computer that OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21 as part of the legal proceedings. The information surfaced during the formal exchange of materials between the legal teams, as reported by Livemint, which cited a Reuters report on the filing. Apple has since moved the court to expedite the discovery process in the trade secret case against OpenAI, asking the court to accelerate the exchange of evidence.
OpenAI's Response
OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss Apple's lawsuit. The company maintains that it is building products that are "entirely new," a position reported by multiple outlets. OpenAI has not yet responded to requests for comment on the specific allegations, according to reports.
Legal Context
The case is part of an ongoing legal dispute between the two technology companies over trade secrets. Apple's filing in S. federal court alleges that Liu accessed the schematic and trained an AI agent using proprietary information in March 2026. The exact timeline of Liu's employment and the circumstances surrounding the alleged access have not been detailed in the court documents, as reported.
The legal proceedings continue in S. federal court, where Apple is seeking expedited discovery to examine the evidence further. OpenAI's motion to dismiss the lawsuit remains pending.
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.
Framing: Apple's accusation that an OpenAI employee accessed circuit plans is the headline's focus.
Facts Included:
Apple alleged that a defendant in its trade secret case against OpenAI accessed a power converter circuit schematic while at OpenAI.
The filing was made in S. federal court.
Apple alleged that Chang Liu, a former Apple senior system electrical engineer, accessed the circuit and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026.
Apple says the new evidence came to light from a MacBook computer OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21 as part of legal proceedings.
Apple is asking a S. federal court to expedite discovery proceedings in the trade secret case against OpenAI.
OpenAI has sought to dismiss Apple's lawsuit, saying it is building products that are 'entirely new.'
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Framing: Apple's allegation against OpenAI employee — neutral, legal
Facts Included:
Apple alleged that Chang Liu, a former Apple senior system electrical engineer, accessed the circuit and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026.
Apple alleged that a defendant in its trade secret case against ChatGPT creator OpenAI accessed a power converter circuit schematic while at OpenAI, according to a filing in federal court.
Apple says the new evidence came to light from a MacBook computer OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21 as part of legal proceedings.
Apple is asking a federal court to expedite discovery proceedings in the trade secret case against OpenAI.
OpenAI has sought to dismiss Apple's lawsuit, saying it is building products that are "entirely new."
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Framing: Apple alleges former engineer accessed circuit plans while at OpenAI — Neutral reporting of legal allegations and responses.
Facts Included:
Apple alleged that a former engineer accessed proprietary circuit plans after joining OpenAI, as per a Reuters report citing a US federal court filing.
Apple stated that a defendant in its trade secret case against OpenAI accessed a power converter circuit schematic while working at the firm.
Apple identified the former employee as Chang Liu, who previously worked as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple.
Apple alleged that Liu accessed the power converter circuit and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026.
The information surfaced during the formal exchange of materials between the legal teams.
Apple stated that the new evidence came to light from a MacBook that OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21.
Apple moved the US federal court to expedite discovery proceedings in the trade secret case against OpenAI.
OpenAI asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
OpenAI maintained that it is building products that are "entirely new."
The legal proceedings between the two technology companies continue in US federal court.
Framing: Apple's allegation that an OpenAI employee accessed its circuit plans after joining the startup, framing the tech giant as a victim of trade secret misappropriation. — Neutral but litigious, reporting Apple's allegations and OpenAI's responses without overt editorial commentary.
Facts Included:
Apple alleged that Chang Liu, a former Apple senior system electrical engineer, accessed a power converter circuit schematic and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026.
Apple says the new evidence came to light from a MacBook computer OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21 as part of legal proceedings.
Apple is asking a S. federal court to expedite discovery proceedings in the trade secret case against OpenAI.
OpenAI has sought to dismiss Apple's lawsuit, saying it is building products that are entirely new.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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 alleged that Chang Liu, a former Apple senior system electrical engineer, accessed a power converter circuit schematic and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026.