OpenAI says a former employee who returned to Apple sent more than 100 secret files about an unreleased OpenAI product to his personal accounts. The company made the claim in a court filing Wednesday in San Jose, California. Apple denies it.
According to the filing, the unnamed employee joined OpenAI from Apple and stayed for six months. Some of the files, which include images of the device and manufacturing data, were sent just after midnight in Singapore on June 2, his last day at the company.
OpenAI also says he presented its product plans months earlier to Apple’s senior leaders, including the company’s vice president of operations in Asia. The filing points to HomeView, the $299 smart display Apple launched Tuesday, as evidence that Apple is now pushing into AI products.
In the filing, OpenAI said it was “very concerned that its trade secret and confidential information is now circulating inside Apple.”
Apple rejected that account. A company spokesperson told Reuters that Apple has rules preventing new hires from using confidential information from previous jobs, and that its review found no evidence supporting OpenAI’s claims. In a letter dated October 12, Apple’s lawyers wrote that the phone numbers OpenAI had named did not match the employee’s work number. Apple also said it found no OpenAI files on its servers, and that OpenAI chose to go to court rather than respond.
The dispute goes back to July, when Apple sued OpenAI. Apple alleged that former employees, including Chang Liu and Tang Tan, who is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, took Apple’s hardware secrets with them. OpenAI has disputed that account.
The latest filing does not include counterclaims against Apple. Instead, OpenAI asked the court to set a schedule that would give it time to investigate the matter. If needed, the company could file counterclaims later.
The same day, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said he was “highly likely” to grant Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction. OpenAI then agreed not to use the alleged trade secrets while the case proceeds. The arrangement, which the judge can enforce, requires forensic copies to be made of the devices belonging to 14 staff members who may hold Apple data.
A day earlier, Davila had moved up Apple’s access to some evidence. Apple can now obtain OpenAI’s hiring and interview records. It can also question Liu, Tan and Alyssa Peng, another former Apple employee, under oath sooner than originally planned.
Reuters reports the case is likely to go to trial in October 2027. OpenAI has said it could be ready by June 2027.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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