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Just when OpenAI seemed to have turned the tide on Apple with its previous revelations, Apple appears to have unearthed shocking evidence against former senior electrical engineer Chang Liu.
The newest allegations come from a MacBook recently surrendered by Liu’s legal counsel. According to Apple, an initial forensic search of the laptop suggests that Liu not only illicitly downloaded proprietary circuit schematics but also actively used them in his projects at OpenAI.
As detailed in our previous Apple lawsuit on OpenAI coverage, Apple initially took legal action in July 2026, alleging that departing employees took highly confidential files to benefit OpenAI. The newest findings also reveal that other OpenAI employees were fully aware of this unauthorised cloud access.
Apple also claims that there was an ongoing cover-up involving evidence tampering at play. The Cupertino giant alleges that once Liu realised he was in the firing line, he asked an OpenAI coworker to destroy evidence, which is a request she agreed to carry out.
Additionally, Apple claims to have discovered that Liu used the stolen schematics in an electrical engineering program called LTspice in March 2026. He trained an AI agent to operate the software and evaluate the results.
Apple argues that feeding proprietary information into a machine learning model causes irreversible damage to its trade secrets. Besides, the company also traced the schematic usage, which Liu had previously accessed on a Mac Mini. The same was synced to the surrendered MacBook via iCloud.
Therefore, Apple now seeks access to the Mac Mini in question. By presenting this evidence, Apple is pushing back against OpenAI's attempts to dismiss the case. The brand also insists that these are not baseless claims, as OpenAI had previously labelled them, and has asked the court to expedite the process before more evidence is destroyed.
The OpenAI lawsuit just took an interesting turn and could spell huge trouble for OpenAI and the former Apple employees if found guilty. For those unaware, the legal hearing for the Apple-OpenAI lawsuit is scheduled for October 1, 2026, at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose.
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