The legal battle between Apple and OpenAI is deepening. What began as a dispute over alleged theft of trade secrets has now entered a new phase, with both sides trading serious accusations.

Alleged transfer of hundreds of files by a former employee

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According to OpenAI, an unnamed employee first moved from Apple to OpenAI, then returned to Apple after six months. The company claims that even as this person was leaving, they transferred more than 100 files to personal accounts — including manufacturing-related data and detailed images of at least one device that had never been shared anywhere.

Even more striking is the further allegation: months earlier, the same person had briefed Apple's leadership on OpenAI's product roadmap. OpenAI says it is seriously concerned that confidential information is now circulating inside Apple and that engineers are using it to design next-generation AI hardware. The company says it raised the matter directly with Apple first, but after failing to receive the assurances it expected, it asked the court for permission to investigate and to file counterclaims.

Apple's response is clear-cut: speaking to Reuters, the company said it found no evidence supporting the allegations and stressed that it has strict internal rules preventing new hires from using data from their previous employers.

Tensions that began in July

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The conflict actually flared in July, when Apple sued OpenAI, claiming that Chang Liu and Tang Tan — both tasked with developing new AI hardware inside the company — had stolen its secrets. OpenAI responded by calling that framing "aggressive and bizarrely personal," arguing it had no need for Apple's secrets and was pursuing boundary-pushing innovation of its own.

Court speeds up the evidence process

In a ruling announced yesterday, the court partially granted Apple's request to accelerate evidence gathering. OpenAI must now produce its forensic findings and records of interviews with former Apple employees within a two-week window. After that, Liu, Tan, and Liu's former teammate Alyssa Peng are set to testify.

Judge Edward Davila, who is overseeing the case, rated the chances of an injunction blocking OpenAI from using the alleged Apple secrets as "quite high." Industry observers warn that such a ruling could significantly slow OpenAI's hardware ambitions.