Apple has told a federal court it found no evidence to support OpenAI allegations that a former employee transferred sensitive files before leaving the company, challenging a late-stage filing in an ongoing legal dispute.
The Trade Secret Lawsuit and OpenAI’s Late-Stage Filing
Earlier this year, Apple filed a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit targeting two former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, alongside OpenAI and io Products. That main action accuses OpenAI of misusing confidential Apple data.
But the legal battle took an unexpected turn when OpenAI submitted a court filing claiming an engineer who left OpenAI for Apple sent over a hundred confidential files regarding an unreleased OpenAI device to personal accounts.
Apple’s Internal Investigation and Search Results
Reuters reported that Apple stated it maintains strict policies and procedures to ensure incoming hires do not bring proprietary information from past employers.
Apple’s public response and accompanying exhibits reveal that the company investigated the matter immediately after OpenAI raised the issue on October 9. Three days later, on October 12, Apple informed OpenAI that its internal searches yielded no proprietary OpenAI files.
Unanswered Requests and Docket No. 176
According to Apple’s court filing, the company requested specific technical details from OpenAI to perform alternative searches. OpenAI did not respond to that request. Instead, OpenAI submitted Docket No. 176 to the court.
The Manufacturing Design Team and Next Steps
The engineer at the center of the dispute previously worked on Apple’s Manufacturing Design team focusing on the iPhone, left for OpenAI, and subsequently returned to Apple in the exact same role. Apple’s court submission asserts that these new allegations have no bearing on the primary trade secret case.
Apple noted in a supplementary exhibit that it is taking appropriate legal steps, including the preservation of evidence, to comply with its obligations under the OpenAI letter. The company maintains that it will continue working with OpenAI to investigate the claims despite the abrupt shift to court proceedings.
