Apple Accuses OpenAI of Intentionally Destroying Evidence as Musk Posts 'A Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots'

TradingKey - Apple (AAPL) trade secret dispute with OpenAI has escalated once again. On August 31 ET, Apple filed new court documents with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, stating that recent forensic findings show OpenAI-related personnel may have obtained and used Apple's trade secrets, and accusing them of "destroying evidence." OpenAI denied the allegations and is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.

Following Apple's submission of the new filing, Elon Musk posted on platform X, writing: "A leopard cannot change its spots." (a metaphor for a person's underlying nature being hard to change).

Although Musk did not name anyone directly, observers widely interpreted the comment as a swipe at OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman, but their relationship later fractured over issues such as the company's strategic direction.

[Source: X]

The lawsuit stems from July of this year. Apple sued OpenAI, its hardware subsidiary io Products, and two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, accusing them of misappropriating trade secrets related to hardware design, manufacturing, and the supply chain.

In its latest court document filed on August 31, Apple stated that after joining OpenAI, Liu continued to access Apple's third-party cloud storage and downloaded a confidential circuit schematic, which he subsequently used in his work at OpenAI. Apple said that initial forensic analysis of an Apple MacBook Liu continued to use after leaving the company revealed records of this access.

Apple further alleged that upon learning of Apple's internal investigation, Liu instructed an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence, and the colleague reportedly agreed to comply. Apple is therefore asking the court to expedite pretrial discovery and restrict OpenAI from using trade secrets allegedly belonging to Apple. A hearing on these motions will be held on October 1.

OpenAI denied Apple's core allegations, stating that Apple's request is built on false information. OpenAI stated that Liu accessed the relevant files to help a former Apple colleague locate materials, not to obtain trade secrets for OpenAI.

OpenAI also claimed that Apple's own offboarding management has vulnerabilities, allowing employees to access work files through personal iCloud accounts for extended periods, and that departing employees are not necessarily given sufficient time to complete the handover of devices and access permissions.

The two sides currently have clear disagreements over whether the materials involved constitute trade secrets and whether OpenAI actually used them.