Apple has submitted a new filing in its trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that a former engineer took confidential circuit designs to the ChatGPT maker and attempted to destroy evidence. The brief, filed Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that Chang Liu, who left Apple in January to join OpenAI, used an Apple-issued MacBook to download a "highly confidential" circuit schematic and later uploaded it to LTspice, a circuit simulation program.
According to Apple's legal team, a text message sent by Liu in March indicates that he deployed an AI agent to autonomously run circuit simulations on LTspice. The company's lawyers wrote in the filing that "where trade secret information is fed into an AI agent or model that 'learns' from it, such 'learning' may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the trade secret."
The brief also accuses Liu of attempting to cover his tracks after learning he was under investigation. Apple's legal team stated that in June, Liu "discussed destroying the types of forensic data Apple needs" for its lawsuit with OpenAI colleague Yu-Ting Peng. The filing additionally claims that Liu's Mac Mini, which he allegedly used to power the simulations, should be handed over as evidence, arguing that expedited recovery was necessary since "the full scope of [his] misconduct thus remains unknown."
Background of the Dispute
The accusations are part of Apple's broader trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI, filed on July 10. Apple is seeking financial damages and a court order to stop OpenAI from using its alleged trade secrets and to destroy any proprietary Apple material in its possession. The company is also asking the court to speed up the process of collecting evidence in the case.
Liu previously worked at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer. Apple says he is one of more than 400 former employees who have moved to OpenAI. The company also claims that Liu used a tool at OpenAI that had the same name as an internal Apple engineering application used for development work.
Apple says some of the latest evidence came from a MacBook that OpenAI handed over on August 21 as part of the legal proceedings. The MacBook had previously been issued by Apple to Liu and was used by him after he left the company. Apple's initial forensic examination of the laptop allegedly found evidence that Liu and other OpenAI employees knew about his continued access to Apple's third-party cloud storage services.
The filing argues that the MacBook "represents the very limited information defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting 'fishing expeditions' but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed."
OpenAI's Response
OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss Apple's lawsuit and has characterized the accusations as "meritless," suggesting they are motivated by "its shortcomings in the market for talent and retaining its employees, and its failures to integrate AI into its products." The AI company has maintained that its recruitment practices are normal for the technology industry.
OpenAI has defended Liu, saying he was helping colleagues navigate departure protocols. It has also argued that Liu was accessing Apple's cloud information because he was trying to help a former colleague at Apple.
Apple's lawsuit also accuses Tang Tan of encouraging departing employees to discuss confidential information with OpenAI. OpenAI said Apple failed to identify a specific trade secret shared with Tan, so no violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act occurred.
A judge is scheduled to hear arguments over Apple's motion on October 1.