Apple Alleges OpenAI Employee Used Proprietary Circuit Plans to Train AI Agent
Apple has accused a former engineer of training an artificial intelligence agent on proprietary power converter schematics while employed at OpenAI, escalating a trade secret dispute that highlights growing intellectual property risks in AI development.
Apple has formally alleged that a former senior system electrical engineer accessed proprietary power converter circuit schematics while working at OpenAI. The technology giant filed the claim in a U.S. federal court, marking a significant escalation in its ongoing trade secret litigation against the artificial intelligence developer.
According to the filing, the defendant, Chang Liu, accessed the circuit designs and subsequently trained an AI agent using confidential Apple information in March 2026. This new evidence was reportedly uncovered on a MacBook computer that OpenAI handed over to Apple on August 21 as part of the legal proceedings.
In response to this discovery, Apple is petitioning the federal court to expedite the discovery phase of its trade secret case. The move suggests Apple believes the timeline of the investigation is critical to preserving evidence and establishing the scope of the alleged intellectual property misuse.
OpenAI has previously attempted to have Apple’s lawsuit dismissed. The company has defended its development practices by stating that it is building products that are "entirely new," rather than relying on misappropriated competitor technology.
For investors and technology executives, this dispute underscores the mounting legal vulnerabilities surrounding artificial intelligence training methodologies. As advanced models require vast datasets, the boundary between independent innovation and the unauthorized use of proprietary hardware designs is rapidly becoming a primary litigation battleground.
A judicial ruling or settlement in this case could establish critical precedents for how courts evaluate the ingestion of corporate trade secrets into machine learning systems. It also serves as a stark warning to technology firms regarding the due diligence required when hiring engineering talent from direct competitors.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the latest allegations. The court’s decision on whether to accelerate the discovery process will likely dictate the near-term trajectory of this high-stakes intellectual property conflict.
