Apple alleges OpenAI is destroying evidence and seeks expedited discovery in trade secrets suit

Apple wants evidence collection sped up

Apple is asking a court to fast-track evidence gathering in its trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, arguing that material relevant to the case is at risk of being lost or destroyed while the litigation proceeds. According to The Verge, which cited an earlier Bloomberg report, Apple made the argument in a Monday filing centered on a laptop used by a former employee at the heart of the dispute.

The case dates to July, when Apple sued OpenAI accusing it of stealing trade secrets to build an AI device. The lawsuit revolves around three former Apple employees who joined OpenAI, one of whom, Chang Liu, allegedly kept a company-owned MacBook after leaving Apple.

What the laptop allegedly showed

According to Apple, OpenAI had the MacBook in its possession from the moment the lawsuit began but failed to inspect it, and only turned the device over on August 21st. Apple says its subsequent examination found that Liu had downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic and then used it in his work at OpenAI. Apple also claims that Liu and others at OpenAI were well aware he retained access to Apple's third-party cloud storage system.

The inspection is also said to have surfaced messages in which Liu discussed the need to "restore" and then "start using" Apple-owned devices, sent after he learned in June that Apple had opened an internal investigation. Apple contends the laptop contained discussions about destroying the very types of forensic data the company needs.

In the filing, Apple argues that newly discovered evidence demonstrates a "very real risk of evidence destruction," noting that forensic artifacts such as logs, metadata and usage records are transient and can be lost, overwritten or destroyed. That risk is the basis for its request for expedited discovery.

OpenAI calls it Apple's own mess

OpenAI disputes the allegations. In its own filing, the company describes the dispute as "a mess of Apple's own making," arguing that Apple is blaming others for an employee exit process that OpenAI considers disorganized.

On the substance, OpenAI says there is no evidence that Liu accessed Apple information through improper means or for any improper purpose, and asserts that Liu has no use for Apple confidential information.

Why it matters

The exchange escalates a lawsuit that sits at the intersection of two prominent industry fault lines: competition over AI talent and the race to ship consumer AI hardware. Apple's core claim is that employees who moved to OpenAI carried proprietary knowledge with them for an AI device effort, and the new filing sharpens that into an accusation about the integrity of the evidence itself.

The procedural outcome matters as much as the rhetoric. If the court grants expedited discovery, OpenAI could be compelled to preserve and produce devices, logs and records on a compressed timeline rather than the usual schedule. And although the destruction claims are, for now, allegations from one side, courts can impose sanctions for evidence spoliation that operate independently of the merits of the underlying trade secrets claims. In other words, how OpenAI handled one MacBook could end up shaping the case as much as what Liu actually did while at the company.