Apple expands allegations against OpenAI, says more ex-employees may have taken trade secrets ChatGPT maker

Apple has said in a new court filing that its investigation now suggests that many more former employees may be involved in the alleged trade secrets theft by OpenAI. The iPhone maker has now asked a US court to allow expedited discovery in order to strengthen its request for a preliminary injunction.

In a fresh court filing submitted on Monday, Apple said it wants access to documents, communications and depositions from OpenAI, former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, along with other current OpenAI employees, arguing that the information is necessary to determine the "nature and extent" of the alleged trade secret misappropriation.

Apple also said in the filing that it has identified at least 10 other former Apple employees who may have been involved in the alleged trade secrets theft, apart from Chang Liu, Tang Tan and OpenAI employee Yu-Ting "Alyssa" Peng, who have already been named in the case.

“For example, another former Apple employee seems to have met with Mr. Liu and Ms. Peng in advance of Ms. Peng’s interview at OpenAI and discussed with them during that meeting Apple proprietary information relating to unannounced products,” the filing reads.

Apple also claims another former employee took screenshots of confidential documents related to an unannounced Apple product before interviewing with OpenAI. Moreover, the company says multiple former Apple employees currently working at OpenAI contacted Apple after the lawsuit was filed to arrange the return of Apple-issued work devices that they had kept after leaving the company.

What is Apple alleging?

In a lawsuit filed last month, Apple alleged that OpenAI stole its trade secrets in order to build its own hardware division. In the filing, Apple claimed that employees who joined OpenAI continued to have access to its systems after leaving. Apple has also argued that OpenAI's hardware business is "rotten to its core" and built on stolen secrets.

Apple's inquiry traces back to the January 2026 departure of Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer who moved to OpenAI. According to the complaint, Liu failed to return his company-issued laptop and subsequently found he was still able to access Apple's internal systems, a lapse Apple attributes to an authentication bug.

Rather than flagging the flaw, Apple alleges Chang Liu used the ongoing access to download dozens of confidential engineering files while employed at OpenAI, including material on unreleased products, technical specifications, presentations and manufacturing processes.

Apple further alleges that Chang Liu advised a serving Apple engineer who was interviewing at OpenAI to study confidential Apple material ahead of her interviews and coached her on how to copy files without alerting Apple's security team.

The two are said to have shifted their conversations to a private messaging app specifically to avoid detection, according to the filing.