Apple has submitted a fresh document in its continuing legal battle against OpenAI as it keeps pushing for fast-tracked discovery. In today’s submission, Apple claims it has uncovered new “stunning proof” drawn from an initial forensic examination of a laptop belonging to former engineer Chang Liu.
Apple initially launched the lawsuit in July, charging ex-staff members with misappropriating trade secrets to benefit OpenAI. It sought a preliminary injunction shortly after, while also requesting the court to speed up discovery, covering early document turnover and depositions of key OpenAI personnel and executives. Apple reiterated the urgency for fast-tracked discovery just last week. OpenAI has pushed for the case to be thrown out.
As previously reported, Chang Liu is among those named in Apple’s complaint. Liu served as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple before departing for OpenAI in January. The suit claims Liu took advantage of a security flaw to grab confidential engineering files after his exit.
In today’s filing, Apple states that Liu’s attorneys recently turned over his MacBook that he used post-Apple. According to Apple, an “initial forensic review” of that MacBook uncovered four points, quoted from Apple’s submission:
– Mr. Liu didn’t just download a confidential Apple circuit schematic—he also deployed it in his work at OpenAI;
– Far from being unaware of his unauthorized entry into Apple’s third-party cloud storage, Mr. Liu and others at OpenAI were fully cognizant of that access;
– Mr. Liu, once he learned of Apple’s internal probe into his activities, sent instructions for wiping evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would follow through; and
– Mr. Liu employed a tool in his work at OpenAI that shares the same name as an internal Apple engineering application used for Apple development work.
Apple alleges Liu ran a simulation in March using the circuit schematic file in LTspice, an electrical engineering tool. In messages from around that period, Liu said his AI “agent” figured out how to run LTspice and review the outcomes.
Apple contends that when trade secret data is fed into an AI agent or model that learns from it, that learning “may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the trade secret.”
Apple says the defendants opted not to inspect the laptop and instead chose to “advance theories that the device’s data disproves.”
Additionally, Apple discovered Liu’s use of the schematic because he used it on a Mac mini which later synced via iCloud to the MacBook he took from Apple. Apple now also seeks access to that Mac mini.
This “stunning proof” is yet another point favoring fast-tracked discovery in the case, Apple argues:
“This shocking evidence—which Defendants chose to ignore despite its availability—demonstrates why Apple urgently needs expedited discovery. The MacBook represents the very limited information Defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting ‘fishing expeditions’ but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed.”
“This stunning proof—which Defendants chose to ignore despite its availability—demonstrates why Apple urgently needs expedited discovery. The MacBook represents the very limited information Defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting ‘fishing expeditions’ but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed.”
You can read the full filing below or via this link.
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