Judge Edward Davila has widened Apple’s access to evidence in the Apple OpenAI lawsuit, granting several requests he put on hold on October 13. The new order covers how former Apple engineer Chang Liu used AI tools, plus testimony on how OpenAI interviewed former Apple employees and handled Apple information.
The ruling follows the October 13 order that gave Apple early access to forensic images, interview materials, and depositions. That order deferred every request built on the term “Apple Originated Information,” which the judge found too broad. Apple and the defendants have since agreed on a narrower definition.
Davila adopted it with modifications in an order dated October 27 as shared by 9to5Mac. That opened the door to the requests he had set aside. The definition covers non-public Apple information tied to Apple’s listed trade secrets, consumer hardware engineering, metal finishing, battery design, or a confidential label, held by former employees now at OpenAI or io.
Apple OpenAI lawsuit now covers Chang Liu’s AI tool use
Apple can now pursue records of Liu’s use of AI tools since January 23, 2026. That includes Claude, Codex, ChatGPT, and OpenClaw on his Mac mini and personal accounts, plus other AI tools on his corporate devices and accounts. Apple’s forensic expert says Liu used an Apple trade secret file in March 2026.
Liu and Tang Yew Tan must also answer two interrogatories each. Liu’s window starts after January 22, 2026, and Tan’s after February 2, 2024. The first asks them to identify every account, device, storage location, and app used to access, store, or share Apple information, including LINE, Signal, Telegram, and Kik.
The second covers any device or account that no longer holds Apple information. It asks what was stored there, for how long, and when, by whom, and why it was erased.
Apple’s forensic expert also says Liu told former colleague Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng in June 2026 to have Apple-issued devices “restored.” The defendants say Apple has not shown anything was actually deleted or restored. Davila did not weigh the competing expert findings, but he cited the exchange and the risk of lost forensic evidence when he first allowed early discovery.
OpenAI must testify on batteries and metal finishing
Apple also gets testimony from OpenAI and io Products representatives. It covers work by Liu, Tan, and Peng that involved Apple information on batteries, power management, and metal finishing. On October 13, the judge refused early access to OpenAI’s own documents on those same three subjects and sent them to regular discovery.
The order also covers OpenAI’s interviews of or conducted by Liu, Tan, and Peng, including recruitment, pre-interview guidance to candidates, and efforts to discuss Apple information. OpenAI must explain what steps it took, or failed to take, to keep anyone from acquiring, using, or disclosing Apple information without authorization. In its motion to dismiss, OpenAI pushed back on the allegations, and it later agreed not to use alleged Apple trade secrets.
Apple does not get OpenAI’s own devices or investigations
Davila denied Apple’s three interrogatories aimed at OpenAI itself, which covered its devices and accounts, its internal investigations, and any deletion of Apple information on the company side. He also turned down two more corporate testimony topics, calling them “too broad at this stage and better suited for merits discovery.” Apple can still pursue all of it through regular discovery.
The judge declined to exempt Apple’s interrogatories from the 25 interrogatory limit in Rule 33, though he will hear motions to exceed it. Defendants must answer the interrogatories and respond to the AI tool records request within 14 days of the order, which puts the deadline at November 10. Material already collected for the case is due within five days.
