🚨 BREAKING: Apple filed for a PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION against OpenAI AND asked a federal judge to put them under forensic supervision
"Apple respectfully moves the Court for a preliminary injunction to stop THE THEFT OF ITS TRADE SECRETS"
Apple filed NINE sworn declarations, a 28-page memorandum and a concurrent motion for expedited discovery
What Apple now says, under oath:
Chang Liu: 8 years at Apple, now OpenAI "Member of Technical Staff" exploited an authentication bug to steal Apple trade secrets "on AT LEAST FIVE SEPARATE OCCASIONS" from February to April 2026, WHILE working for OpenAI
Liu downloaded "THOUSANDS OF PAGES of Apple's most sensitive trade secrets"
The stolen files, NAMED:
>DisplayNotes.key — "several hundred pages" on Apple's custom display power development program
>Architecture analyses. Fabrication decisions. Testing results
>Engineering data for an UNANNOUNCED Apple product: 'touch, display, and power systems"
>Final.key + V2.key — compilations of two undisclosed Apple R&D projects
>and those are "only four of the dozens of proprietary documents Mr. Liu stole"
Liu fed OpenAI "a steady stream of Apple proprietary information that he actively concealed"
Liu also "coached Yu-Ting "Alyssa" Peng, then still INSIDE Apple, how to access and copy files from Apple workstations "to avoid trouble with the security team" and directed her to communicate with him on the encrypted LINE app "to avoid detection"
Tang Yew Tan: 24-year Apple VP, now OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, "used an Apple internal project codename for an unannounced product to elicit still more trade secrets from job candidates."
Tan's own messages, quoted in the motion:
>"Just like last time, bring some parts you worked on" >"mlb, battery, shields type of stuff is interesting"
OpenAI recruiter, quoted: "No, you won't sign anything at the exit interview. If they do ask you to sign anything, let me know asap."
APPLE TOLD FEDERAL JUDGE:
>"OpenAI knows its misappropriation is wrong and has tried to conceal it."
>"This is not a case of 'mere hiring'... it is a case of repeated instances of deliberate theft."
Apple says OpenAI went after its SUPPLIERS:
>OpenAI "directed a trusted Apple partner [name redacted] to perform [Apple's proprietary metal finishing] process for them, knowing it was proprietary to Apple... because they were involved in this partnership while at Apple."
Apple put its own Surface Finishing Manager, Jackie Hughes, under oath to prove it.
Apple named ELEVEN MORE former Apple employees at OpenAI — beyond Liu, Tan, and Peng — Fourteen people total.
Apple also filed a concurrent motion for EXPEDITED DISCOVERY demanding depositions:
- Liu. Tan. Peng.
- A fourth unnamed OpenAI employee
- Plus OpenAI itself, under oath, through Rule 30(b)(6)
Apple has asked a federal judge to put OpenAI under forensic supervision RIGHT NOW:
>Forensic inspection of ALL OpenAI devices
>ALL cloud storage, Slack, email
>Including anything that "previously contained" Apple data — deleted included
Demanding the "first available hearing date," citing "imminent threat" to its trade secrets.
APPLE:
> "The harm is happening now — every day that passes without an injunction allows OpenAI to embed their knowledge of Apple's stolen information into its hardware development efforts."
Hearing: October 1, 2026. Judge Edward J. Davila.
ITS HAPPENING
I miss when social media felt more social.
Too much content now feels fake, recycled, or made only for engagement.
What are you working on right now?
I’d rather meet honest developers, founders, and business owners who are genuinely building, learning, and trying to create something useful.
#TechTips