Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI just got a lot more specific about what each side is fighting over. A joint court filing made public this week lays out exactly what Apple wants access to, and exactly why OpenAI thinks that request goes too far.
The case dates back to July, when Apple sued OpenAI, and several former employees over alleged trade secret misappropriation. It has moved through several rounds of dueling motions since, and this latest filing focuses on what evidence each side gets to see before the case goes further.
Apple Says Its Forensic Expert Already Found Errors in OpenAI’s Analysis
At the center of the dispute is a MacBook that Apple says former employee Chang Liu used to run a simulation with a stolen Apple circuit schematic after joining OpenAI. Defense experts have already analyzed devices tied to that MacBook, including a Mac mini Apple has separately sought access to.
Apple now wants its own forensic experts to review the underlying forensic images those defense experts relied on, not just their conclusions. Apple says its expert has already spotted real problems with that analysis, including files on the Mac mini that were demonstrably used and stored there but that the defense experts failed to locate, plus a conclusion that files with zero bytes or no recorded last-used date were never accessed, something Apple argues doesn’t hold up.
OpenAI wants a neutral third-party expert to handle the forensic images instead of handing them to Apple’s own team. Apple argues that’s unfair, since the defendants’ experts already had direct access to the same material.
Apple Wants OpenAI’s Records on Metal Finishes, Power, and Battery Design
Beyond the forensic dispute, Apple is asking for documents tied to specific parts of OpenAI’s hardware development: metal finishes, power management, and battery functionality. OpenAI has argued that its metal finishes were developed independently, and that Liu’s simulation using an Apple confidential file had nothing to do with its upcoming device.
Apple wants OpenAI’s underlying development records to test those claims directly rather than take them at face value. OpenAI is pushing back hard, arguing the request amounts to Apple trying to see inside a competitor’s hardware program before the case has even established that any trade secrets were misused, and that Apple’s request isn’t limited to OpenAI’s first hardware product.
Apple has separately asked the court for a preliminary injunction restricting OpenAI’s use of its alleged trade secrets while the case plays out, arguing that OpenAI’s hardware is far enough along in development that any delay makes misuse harder to unwind.
The filing covers more than the MacBook and the metal finishes. Apple wants forensic images from devices used by Liu, Tang Tan, former Apple employee Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, and one more OpenAI employee, covering what Apple calls “Apple Originated Information.” It’s also seeking records on whether Liu used AI tools like ChatGPT, Codex, Claude, or OpenClaw with any confidential Apple files, after the defendants said their own forensic investigation found no evidence of that.
On top of the device-level requests, Apple wants interview materials from OpenAI’s Consumer Hardware Products Group and the full LINE message history between Liu and Peng, arguing that the excerpts OpenAI already submitted in the injunction fight aren’t the whole picture. OpenAI, for its part, has raised concerns about interrogatories reaching more than 400 former Apple employees now working there, a number that hints at how wide this dispute has already grown beyond the original allegations, which OpenAI has pinned on Apple’s own offboarding and security lapses.
via 9to5Mac
