Judge says he is 'highly likely' to grant Apple injunction in trade secrets fight with OpenAI
A federal judge in San Jose said on Wednesday, 14 October, that he is highly likely to grant Apple a preliminary injunction, while OpenAI accused a former employee of sending more than 100 device files to personal accounts.
Two motions heard in San Jose
Judge Edward Davila heard two opposed motions on Wednesday, 14 October, in San Jose, California. Apple asks for a preliminary injunction that would stop OpenAI from using confidential information it says came from Apple, and from seeking more of it. OpenAI asks the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Apple has named no specific trade secret and has pointed only to broad categories of hardware information. Davila said he is "highly likely" to grant Apple's request, according to Bloomberg, which described such an order as a potential setback for OpenAI. Apple sued OpenAI in July, accusing Chang Liu, a former iPhone engineer, and Tang Tan, OpenAI's hardware chief, of stealing trade secrets to build AI hardware. The design firm io Products is also a defendant, and OpenAI has called the suit "careless, aggressive and oddly personal."
Discovery orders
On Tuesday, 13 October, the court partly granted Apple's request for expedited discovery. OpenAI now has up to two weeks to hand over forensic images, the checklists and scripts used to interview Apple candidates, interview summaries, and Liu's messages to a former colleague sent since January. Davila refused another part of Apple's request. Research documents on metal finishes, power management and battery function will remain in ordinary discovery, and he called Apple's category "Apple Originated Information" amorphous, according to 9to5Mac. Liu, Tan and Alyssa Peng, Liu's former Apple colleague, will need to sit for depositions once Apple has the material. In a filing on Wednesday, OpenAI asked the court for permission to investigate and pursue counterclaims if necessary.
- Former employee's final day at OpenAI, when OpenAI says over 100 files were sent to personal accounts
- Apple sues OpenAI, accusing Chang Liu and Tang Tan of trade secret theft
- Apple calls forensic findings from a former engineer's laptop shocking evidence
- Court partly grants Apple's request for expedited discovery
- Hearing on Apple's injunction request and OpenAI's motion to dismiss
OpenAI's account of an ex-employee's files
OpenAI's filing describes an unnamed former employee who joined OpenAI from Apple, worked there for six months and then went back to Apple. OpenAI alleges that on 2 June 2026, the employee's final day at the company, he sent more than 100 files about at least one unreleased device to personal accounts. According to OpenAI, the files include detailed images, engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information, project files, cosmetic finish standards and reports on coating and sealing of hardware components. OpenAI also says the employee gave a presentation on its product plans to Apple's senior leadership, including the vice president of operations in Asia. The company links that presentation to Apple's HomeView smart display and other devices Apple revealed in October. OpenAI argues the timing matters:
That presentation appears to have happened months ago, and now, armed with that information, Apple is making a new push into AI-enabled products.
Apple's response and the iCloud dispute
Apple told Reuters it has found no evidence supporting OpenAI's claims and that it maintains rules meant to keep new hires from using secrets of earlier employers. OpenAI counters that Apple encouraged staff to use personal iCloud accounts for work, and that an authentication error let Liu keep access after he left the company. In August, OpenAI had already told the court that Apple should not be allowed to convert the predictable effects of its own rules into proof of theft. Apple says these points are separate, since the iCloud material is not the core of its case. Its central claim is that Liu used an authentication flaw to reach Apple's network storage and download files. Earlier, in August, Apple had called what it found in an early forensic analysis of a former engineer's laptop "shocking evidence."
What is at stake for OpenAI's devices
OpenAI says it is building a new family of devices for the AI era, beginning with a doughnut-shaped speaker priced above $300 and due in 2027. Work on those products has been held back since the July lawsuit, and OpenAI is preparing to list at a targeted $1.4T. OpenAI has up to two weeks from 13 October to hand over the forensic material, and depositions follow once Apple has it.