Apple escalates trade-secret fight: seeks injunction to stop OpenAI from developing AI hardware and asks court to speed discovery

Apple's trade-secret dispute with OpenAI has escalated sharply. Apple has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would restrict OpenAI from continuing to develop AI devices and related products that allegedly use Apple technology, and is asking the court to expedite discovery against OpenAI and several related parties.

According to AIBase, the defendants now include OpenAI, its affiliated foundation, AI-hardware startup io, OpenAI senior systems engineer Chang Liu and chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan.

The latest court filings show that after an ongoing investigation, Apple believes 11 additional former Apple employees may be connected to the case or hold key evidence. New evidence indicates that one former employee discussed proprietary information about unreleased products with people involved in the case before an OpenAI interview, and another intercepted confidential documents about unreleased products.

Apple also said that after the lawsuit was filed, multiple current OpenAI employees and former Apple employees proactively offered to return Apple devices they had kept after leaving, heightening Apple's concern about the scope of potential IP leakage. Apple therefore asked the court to accelerate discovery in support of the pending injunction request.

OpenAI responded publicly, calling the injunction request "based on false information and unnecessary," insisting it has neither obtained nor intends to obtain Apple trade secrets, and stressing that its focus remains innovative products and technology. OpenAI also countered that Apple previously mis-sent emails to unrelated people due to name confusion, and accused Apple of failing to acknowledge that some former employees could still access internal systems because of Apple's own permission-management flaws.

The dispute began in mid-July, when Apple formally sued OpenAI over alleged trade-secret theft linked to former employees and a core AI hardware project; it has now entered the injunction and expedited-discovery phase, with the legal fight over AI hardware development intensifying.

For the industry, the case could become a bellwether for intellectual-property protection in AI hardware: talent mobility between tech giants, and how departing employees' devices and information are managed, may all come under renewed scrutiny. As the legal offensive over trade secrets and AI hardware development intensifies, the lawsuit could have a lasting impact on IP protection and competition in the AI hardware sector.