Apple has filed new claims in its lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that a former employee stole trade secrets to aid the rival company.
Shocking evidence
The legal team for Apple submitted details following the return of Chang Liu’s old work laptop earlier this month. Liu now works at OpenAI. The company says he used a confidential circuit schematic in his new role. It also points to a tool he used that shares a name with an internal Apple engineering application.
Apple claims OpenAI knew about Liu’s access to its data. The company also says Liu asked Yu-Ting Peng, a colleague at OpenAI, to help destroy evidence in June. This happened after Liu realised Apple was investigating him.
The filing states the returned MacBook shows Apple is not conducting fishing expeditions. It argues the device proves trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed.
While this specific evidence is redacted from public view, past filings revealed text messages from Liu. He punctuated them with “crying laughing” emojis. These showed he knew he still had access to Apple files.
OpenAI response
OpenAI has defended Liu by saying he only accessed Apple files after he stopped working there. His goal was to help former colleagues who asked for assistance. An OpenAI blog post from earlier this month stated Apple tries to shift blame to residual access. The company argued this is a common issue caused by Apple failing to properly manage system access when people leave.
Apple counters that Liu had continued access because he exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug.
TechCrunch has requested comment from OpenAI on these newest allegations.
What it means
Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction. This would be a court order blocking OpenAI from working on hardware based on Apple’s technology while the case is ongoing. The company also wants expedited discovery to gather evidence faster. It alleges more former employees may also be implicated.
Apple’s initial filing says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.
