Apple alleges former employee stole circuit designs for OpenAI

Aug 31, 2026

Apple has filed new court evidence alleging that former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu stole confidential power converter circuit schematics to train an AI agent at OpenAI. Apple claims Liu exploited an authentication bug to access files and enlisted colleague Yu-Ting Peng to destroy evidence. OpenAI defends Liu, attributing the incident to Apple's own failure to manage residual system access.

Apple trade secret lawsuit

▪OpenAI has sought to dismiss Apple's trade secret lawsuit, asserting that OpenAI is building products that are "entirely new."
▪Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI from working on hardware based on Apple's technology while the trade secret lawsuit is ongoing
▪Apple is asking a U.S. federal court to expedite discovery proceedings in its trade secret case against OpenAI
▪Apple filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against OpenAI alleging the theft of trade secrets by former Apple employees

Chang Liu alleged data theft

▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug to maintain continued access to Apple's internal files
▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu, a former Apple senior system electrical engineer who now works at OpenAI, accessed proprietary Apple files after leaving Apple
▪The new evidence against Chang Liu emerged after his legal counsel handed over his old Apple work laptop to Apple for investigation on August 21, 2026

Evidence destruction allegations

▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu enlisted OpenAI colleague Yu-Ting Peng in June 2026 to help destroy evidence after learning that Apple was investigating Chang Liu
▪Apple claimed in a court filing that a returned MacBook computer shows that Apple's trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed

OpenAI residual access defense

▪OpenAI defended Chang Liu by stating he only accessed Apple files after his employment ended to assist former Apple colleagues who requested his help
▪OpenAI published a blog post in August 2026 blaming Apple's "residual access" issues on Apple's failure to properly manage system access when employees leave

Former Apple employees at OpenAI

▪According to Apple's initial court filing, more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI
▪Apple requested expedited discovery in its lawsuit against OpenAI because Apple alleges that more former Apple employees may be implicated in the data theft

Circuit schematic unauthorized use

▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu used a tool at OpenAI that shares a name with an internal Apple engineering application
▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu trained an artificial intelligence agent using proprietary Apple information in March 2026
▪Apple alleged that Chang Liu used a confidential Apple power converter circuit schematic in his work at OpenAI