OpenAI says an engineer took 100+ files on its secret device back to Apple

OpenAI told a federal court in San Jose on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, that a former employee who came from Apple, worked at OpenAI for six months and has since returned to Apple sent more than 100 highly confidential files about at least one unreleased OpenAI device to his personal accounts — and later presented OpenAI's product plans to Apple's senior leadership. Apple says it has found nothing to support the claims. At a hearing the same day, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said he is "highly likely" to grant Apple an injunction in its own case against OpenAI.

Apple spent the summer accusing OpenAI's hardware team of walking out the door with iPhone secrets. Now OpenAI says the door swings both ways — and it timed the filing for the morning of the hearing, a day after Apple launched its first AI home display. The judge, for his part, sounded ready to rule for Apple anyway. Strip away the legal choreography and the tell is simple: both companies are fighting over the same thing, the first real AI device, and neither has shipped the one it's actually worried about.

The case is Apple Inc. v. Chang Liu, Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and io Products LLC, No. 5:26-cv-07078-EJD, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division. Apple sued in July 2026, accusing OpenAI, its hardware chief and a former iPhone hardware engineer of conspiring to extract Apple confidential information through former Apple employees. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing. Those lines are from the case record.

On Oct. 14, 2026, OpenAI, represented by Quinn Emanuel, filed a supplement to the parties' Oct. 1 joint case management statement ahead of that day's case management conference. A case management conference is a scheduling hearing, not a trial. Those lines are from the filing.

The filing says that, based on "a recent and ongoing forensic investigation arising from this lawsuit," a former OpenAI employee — who joined OpenAI from Apple, worked at OpenAI for six months and has returned to Apple — sent "over a hundred highly confidential files about at least one unreleased OpenAI device under development to his personal accounts." A forensic investigation, here, is a review of computers and accounts after the fact. The employee is not named in the filing. Those quotations are OpenAI's, in the supplement.

Per the filing, the files include detailed images of the unreleased device or devices, highly confidential engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information and project files, standards for cosmetic finishes, and reports on coating and sealing of hardware components. Some were sent just after midnight in Singapore on June 2, 2026 — the employee's final day at OpenAI. Those lines are OpenAI's, in the supplement.

OpenAI says it understands the former employee made a presentation about OpenAI's product plans to Apple's senior leadership, including Apple's vice president of operations in Asia, "months ago," and that "now, armed with that information, Apple is making a new push into AI-enabled products." A footnote cites Apple's new Home Collection and HomeView announcement. Those quotations are OpenAI's, in the supplement.

OpenAI wrote: "OpenAI is very concerned that its trade secret and confidential information is now circulating inside Apple, where Apple engineers can shape Apple's upcoming products based on OpenAI's confidential and innovative work." A trade secret is confidential business information a company treats as a competitive edge. That quotation is OpenAI's, in the supplement.

OpenAI says Apple has not provided requested assurances that it does not possess and has not used OpenAI's information, and asked the court for a case-management approach that lets it investigate and, if necessary, file counterclaims. Those lines are OpenAI's, in the supplement.

Apple said, in a statement to Business Insider and Reuters, that it has policies to ensure new employees do not use former employers' confidential information, that it has found no evidence supporting OpenAI's allegations, and that the filing is an attempt to distract from Apple's own claims. Those lines are Apple's, as Business Insider and Reuters print them.

Bloomberg Law reported that at Wednesday's hearing, Judge Edward Davila said he is "highly likely" to grant Apple an injunction barring use of Apple's proprietary information by former Apple employees now at OpenAI. An injunction is a court order telling someone to stop. Bloomberg Law said it would be his first substantive ruling in the dispute. No injunction had been issued as of the hearing report. Those lines are Bloomberg Law's.

These are allegations in a court filing. No court has found that the employee or Apple did anything wrong.

The picture is U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California in his black judicial robe and a red-and-blue striped tie. It is his official court portrait. The frame does not print a calendar date.

In plain terms, OpenAI told a San Jose federal court on Wednesday that a former employee who came from Apple, spent six months at OpenAI, and went back to Apple sent more than 100 confidential files about at least one unreleased OpenAI device to personal accounts, and later presented OpenAI's product plans to Apple's senior leadership. Apple says it has found no evidence for that. The same day, the judge said he is highly likely to grant Apple an injunction in Apple's own case. No court has ruled that anyone took or used those files.