Key points
- Apple (AAPL) filed new evidence Monday alleging a former engineer used its confidential circuit schematic while working at OpenAI.
- Apple says messages show the engineer's AI agent learned to run the simulations, cutting a day of work to two hours.
- OpenAI has moved to dismiss and says it does not "have, nor want, any of their trade secrets." A hearing is set for October 1.
Apple (AAPL) filed new evidence Monday in its trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that forensic analysis of a laptop shows a former Apple engineer used a confidential Apple circuit schematic in his work at the AI company.
Apple sued OpenAI, hardware startup io Products and two former Apple employees on July 10 in federal court in California. The individual defendants are Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president who is now OpenAI's chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, a senior systems electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple before leaving in January.
The allegations are unproven. OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss the case.
Apple shares closed Monday at $317.15, down 0.8%. OpenAI has been building out its own hardware and silicon effort, including the Jalapeno inference chip it developed with Broadcom.
What the new filing alleges
The evidence comes from a MacBook that OpenAI turned over to Apple on August 21 as part of the litigation, according to the filing. Apple says a forensic inspection found that Liu downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic after leaving the company and then used it for power conversion work at OpenAI, running simulations in the electrical engineering tool LTspice in March.
Apple also alleges the schematic was used on a Mac mini that synced to the Apple-issued MacBook through iCloud, which is how the activity surfaced. That Mac mini has not been examined, and Apple is asking for access to it.
The complaint filed in July alleged Liu found an authentication bug that let him reach Apple's internal systems after his departure and download dozens of confidential files, including technical specifications, engineering presentations and material on unreleased products.
The AI agent detail
The part of Monday's filing with implications beyond this case involves how the simulations were allegedly run.
Apple quotes messages in which Liu describes his AI agent taking over the engineering work. In the past hour, he wrote, according to the filing, his "agent learned how to run LTspice, look at result, tune compensation parameter." Apple says he described the automation as reducing a full day of development to about two hours.
Power converter design is exactly the kind of iterative task an agent can grind through: run the simulation, read the output, adjust a parameter, run it again. Apple's allegation is that the schematic feeding that loop was its own.
The evidence-destruction claim
Apple further alleges that after learning of Apple's internal investigation, Liu sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague, who Apple says confirmed she would comply. Bloomberg reported the filing under the heading that Apple accuses OpenAI of destroying evidence.
Apple is seeking expedited discovery, including early document production and depositions of OpenAI employees and executives, plus an injunction barring OpenAI from using its trade secrets. Apple also notes in the filing that OpenAI did not inspect the laptop itself.
What OpenAI says
OpenAI has rejected the case. The company has called Apple's suit "careless, aggressive and oddly personal" and said it does not "have, nor want, any of their trade secrets," arguing that it is building products that are entirely new. Its motion to dismiss is pending.
Neither Liu nor Tan has been found liable for anything, and the filings represent Apple's account of what its investigators found.
Judge Edward J. Davila is scheduled to hear arguments on October 1.
