Apple requests a preliminary injunction against OpenAI in the trade secrets case

Apple Inc. requested a U.S. judge on Monday to issue a preliminary injunction against two former employees and OpenAI, prohibiting them from accessing, obtaining, using, or disclosing information that allegedly belongs to Apple. Apple is currently continuing its trade secret lawsuit.

Last month, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and the two former employees now working at OpenAI, accusing them of stealing Apple's trade secrets to assist the ChatGPT parent company in entering the consumer hardware market. This move has sharply escalated the already tense relationship between the two companies.

The iPhone manufacturer also submitted a motion on Monday requesting the court to approve expedited discovery, including requiring the defendants to produce documents related to their alleged access to Apple's proprietary and trade secret information.

Apple is requesting the judge to order the two former Apple employees named in the lawsuit—Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan—to undergo depositions, along with OpenAI employee Yu-Ting Peng and another unnamed former Apple employee who previously worked at OpenAI.

Chang Liu was a senior systems electrical engineer at Apple, while Tang Yew Tan served as the vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple is also requesting depositions from representatives of OpenAI and its business entity io Products, which is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

In a legal document, Apple stated, "Without the issuance of a preliminary injunction, Apple will suffer irreparable harm."

OpenAI responded in a blog post released later on Monday, stating, "Apple's request for a preliminary injunction is based on false information and is entirely unnecessary, as we neither have nor want any of their trade secrets."

Apple has filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The background of the case is that OpenAI has just successfully defended against a legal challenge initiated by Elon Musk's xAI.

The lawsuit signifies that the two companies will engage in a contest over the future control of AI devices—devices that may no longer use traditional applications or operating systems; if successful, such devices could divert consumer attention away from Apple's best-selling iPhone. Analysts believe that OpenAI is developing its own phone or other devices