OpenAI Blames Apple for iPhone Maker’s Trade Secret Lawsuit

In July, Apple sued OpenAI, accusing its one-time partner of stealing trade secrets.

The legal battle continued this week, with Apple now alleging that an OpenAI employee has destroyed evidence in the case, and OpenAI saying Apple has no one to blame for the suit but itself.

In a motion for expedited discovery filed in federal court Monday (Aug. 31) and obtained by PYMNTS, Apple discussed its initial forensic analysis of a MacBook used by Chang Liu, a member of OpenAI’s technical staff and former Apple employee, after he left the company.

The analysis showed that Liu downloaded a “confidential Apple circuit schematic” and used it for his work at OpenAI, the filing said. After learning that Apple had opened an internal investigation into him, Liu “sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply.”

“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,” the filing said.

For its part, OpenAI is accusing Apple of filing a meritless lawsuit to hinder OpenAI’s ability to recruit talent and develop competing technology, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (Sept. 1).

“This dispute is a mess of Apple’s own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else,” OpenAI said in the Monday night filing, per the report. “Apple blames employees who left the company for taking their personal accounts with them—even though Apple encouraged them to use personal accounts for work.”

OpenAI did not respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The Apple lawsuit accuses Liu and OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan of swiping Apple’s confidential information by various means. Tan is also a former Apple employee.

OpenAI argued Tan had only emailed himself materials that were personal or non-confidential, as well as a widely available manager’s checklist as he prepared to leave Apple, the report said.

In response to Apple’s allegation that Tan had encouraged Apple workers to bring “actual parts” to OpenAI interviews for “show and tell,” OpenAI said the parts in question were old or publicly available “demonstrative aids,” common practice in engineering interviews, according to the report.

OpenAI also said Apple staff reached out to Liu after he left, asking for assistance in tracking down files they still needed, the report said.

OpenAI asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit last month.

The lawsuit illustrates the deteriorating relationship between the two companies, which inked a deal in 2024 to have OpenAI’s ChatGPT work with Apple’s Siri chatbot, according to the report. Apple’s new Siri AI, announced in June, uses Google’s Gemini technology. OpenAI is working on developing AI-powered devices designed to compete with Apple’s flagship iPhone.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote Monday about the difficulties facing Apple as John Ternus, the company’s new CEO, takes office. The challenge isn’t just competing with Google or OpenAI on raw model capability. It’s proving that Apple can build products people trust and prefer around someone else’s AI model.

For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily AI Newsletter.