Upgrade to SI Premium - Free Trial

Apple alleges OpenAI employee accessed circuit plans after joining startup

August 31, 2026 4:41 PM

(This Aug ‌31 story ​has ​been republished, with no changes to text.)

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug ‌31 (Reuters) - Apple on Monday alleged that ⁠a defendant in its trade secret ‌case against ChatGPT creator ‌OpenAI accessed a power converter circuit schematic while at OpenAI, according ​to a filing in U.S. federal court.

•Apple alleged that Chang Liu, ⁠a former Apple senior system electrical engineer, accessed ​the circuit and trained an AI agent using proprietary Apple ​information in March 2026.

•Apple ‌says the new evidence came to light from a ⁠MacBook computer OpenAI provided to Apple on August 21 as part of ⁠legal proceedings.

•Apple is asking a U.S. federal court ​to expedite discovery proceedings in the trade secret case against OpenAI.

•OpenAI has sought ‌to dismiss Apple's lawsuit, saying it is building products that ‌are "entirely new."

•OpenAI did not immediately ⁠respond to a ‌request for ​comment.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew ‌Lewis)

Categories

General News Reuters