Apple Shares New Evidence Against Ex-Engineer in OpenAI Lawsuit
Apple has presented new forensic evidence in its trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging former engineer Chang Liu accessed confidential circuit designs and used them at OpenAI. The filing also alleges attempts to destroy evidence. Apple is seeking expedited discovery and restrictions on OpenAI’s disputed hardware work as the case continues.
Apple has filed fresh forensic evidence in its ongoing trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that a former senior electrical engineer downloaded proprietary circuit designs and trained an artificial intelligence agent using stolen data. The legal filing escalates an intensifying dispute over talent recruitment, hardware development, and data security between the two technology giants.
Apple Alleges Trade Secret Misuse and Evidence Destruction
As per a report by Reuters, Apple stated in a U.S. federal court filing that former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu accessed a power converter circuit schematic after moving to OpenAI. The filing asks the court to expedite discovery proceedings.
Forensic Findings From Returned Work Laptop
As per a report by TechCrunch, the new evidence emerged after legal counsel handed over Liu's old Apple work laptop for investigation. Forensic analysis indicated that Liu used the confidential schematic and an internal tool name in his work at OpenAI. Apple asserted that colleagues were well aware of the data access and that evidence destruction was attempted once an internal investigation began.
Legal Context and Preliminary Injunction Requests
The publication further noted that Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI from working on hardware based on disputed technology while the lawsuit proceeds. OpenAI previously sought to dismiss the lawsuit, maintaining that it builds entirely new products and that residual access issues stem from systemic offboarding management by Apple.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 01, 2026 07:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
