Apple presents new "shocking" evidence against a former employee accused of stealing data for OpenAI

Apple has filed new documentation in its lawsuit against OpenAI, in which it accuses several former employees of taking trade secrets for the benefit of the artificial intelligence company. Apple called this new evidence "shocking" in a recent court filing.

The material came to light after the legal team for Chang Liu — a former Apple worker who now works at OpenAI — handed over this month, for examination, the old Apple work laptop Liu had used. Based on that device, Apple contends that Liu used a confidential company circuit schematic in his work for OpenAI, as well as a tool that shares its name with an internal Apple engineering application.

Apple also claims that OpenAI was "fully aware" that Liu had access to Apple data, and adds a more serious allegation: that Liu asked an OpenAI colleague, Yu-Ting Peng, to help destroy evidence in June, at the moment he learned that Apple was investigating him.

According to Apple's own filing, "the MacBook represents the very limited information defendants have provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and it demonstrates that Apple is not conducting 'fishing expeditions,' but that its trade secrets are being used and that evidence is being destroyed." The specific new evidence remains redacted and is not publicly accessible, although earlier Apple filings had already included text messages from Liu — peppered with "crying laughing" emojis — that, according to the company, showed he was aware he still retained access to Apple files.

OpenAI, for its part, has previously defended Liu, arguing that he accessed Apple files only after leaving the company, and solely to help former colleagues who asked him to. In a blog post published this month, OpenAI wrote: "Apple now tries to shift the blame to 'residual access,' but it also fails to disclose that this is a common problem at Apple, caused by its own failure to properly manage system access when people leave the company." Apple counters that Liu retained access because he "exploited a rare and previously unknown authentication flaw."

Procedurally, Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar OpenAI from continuing to work on hardware based on Apple technology while the case remains open, along with expedited discovery, justified by the suspicion that more former employees could be involved. Indeed, according to Apple's initial complaint, more than 400 of the company's former workers currently work at OpenAI.

TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for comment on these latest allegations.