iPhone maker says former engineer downloaded confidential circuit schematics and instructed colleague to destroy forensic data

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Apple has escalated its legal battle against OpenAI, filing a new court brief on Monday that accuses the ChatGPT maker of actively destroying crucial evidence in an ongoing trade secrets dispute. The iPhone maker is now pushing for “expedited discovery” – an accelerated pretrial fact-finding process – arguing that key forensic evidence is at risk of being lost.

The Case Against Chang Liu

At the centre of the dispute is Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer who left the company in January to join OpenAI. Liu is one of more than 400 former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, which has been expanding into hardware products.

According to Apple’s latest filing, OpenAI “only recently” handed over a key piece of evidence – an Apple-issued MacBook that Liu had been using since departing the company. The laptop was finally provided on August 21st, more than six weeks after Apple filed its original lawsuit on July 10.

An initial forensic analysis of the MacBook allegedly revealed that Liu had downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic and used it in his work at OpenAI. Apple further claims that Liu uploaded the schematic to LTspice, a program that simulates circuit performance, and deployed an AI agent to autonomously run simulations on the confidential design.

“Where trade secret information is fed into an AI agent or model that ‘learns’ from it, such ‘learning’ may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the trade secret,” Apple’s legal team wrote in the filing.

Allegations of Evidence Destruction

Perhaps more damning, Apple claims that Liu and others at OpenAI were “well aware” that he retained unauthorised access to Apple’s third-party cloud storage accounts. The forensic analysis also uncovered messages in which Liu allegedly discussed “the need to ‘restore’ and then ‘start using’ Apple-owned devices” after learning of Apple’s internal investigation in June.

Apple alleges that Liu sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague, Yu-Ting Peng, who confirmed she would comply. The filing states that Liu discussed “destroying the types of forensic data Apple needs” for the lawsuit.

“Important forensic artifacts on which forensic inspections rely – such as logs, metadata, and usage records – are transient and at risk of being lost, overwritten, or destroyed,” Apple claims.

Apple’s Legal Demands

Apple is seeking monetary damages as well as a preliminary injunction blocking OpenAI from working on hardware based on Apple’s technology. The company also wants an order requiring OpenAI to destroy any proprietary materials.

“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,” Apple’s lawyers wrote.

OpenAI Fires Back

OpenAI has pushed back strongly against Apple’s allegations. In its own filing on Monday, the AI company called the dispute “a mess of Apple’s own making”.

OpenAI maintains that Liu was simply trying to help former Apple colleagues navigate the company’s departure protocols when accessing cloud data. The company has also argued that any Apple documents Liu accessed were opened on behalf of Apple employees for Apple work purposes.

The AI firm has questioned Apple’s internal data security practices, pointing to the company’s policy of allowing employees to access work documents through personal iCloud accounts. OpenAI argues that the root cause of the dispute is Apple’s own inadequate procedures for revoking system access when workers depart.

“There is no evidence that Liu accessed any Apple information through improper means or for any improper purpose,” OpenAI maintains, adding that “Liu has no use for Apple confidential information”.

A Fraying Relationship

The legal battle marks a dramatic breakdown in what was once a cordial working relationship between the two tech giants. Apple and OpenAI had previously partnered to integrate ChatGPT into Apple products.

The relationship deteriorated significantly after OpenAI brought former Apple design chief Jony Ive into its hardware development efforts. The first device from that collaboration is reportedly set to be a doughnut-shaped smart speaker.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on Apple’s motion for an injunction on October 1.