Apple Accuses OpenAI of Destroying Evidence in Trade Secrets Lawsuit

Apple has accused OpenAI of destroying evidence and using its confidential hardware designs in a new court filing that escalates a high-stakes trade secret lawsuit between the two technology companies. The filing, submitted on August 31, 2026, alleges that a former Apple engineer, Chang Liu, used a proprietary circuit schematic in his work at OpenAI and later instructed a colleague to delete files to conceal the activity. The dispute stems from a lawsuit Apple filed on July 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.