Apple seeks injunction to slow OpenAI's hardware push before 1 October hearing

Apple has taken its trade-secrets fight with OpenAI to a federal judge, asking for a preliminary injunction that would stop the ChatGPT maker and two former Apple engineers from using confidential information as OpenAI races toward its first consumer hardware launch. The filing, made Monday 3 August in Apple v. Liu (5:26-cv-07078, Northern District of California), raises the stakes on a dispute that could shape the timeline for OpenAI's device business just as it nears market.

Apple sued in July, accusing former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu and former Apple Watch and iPhone product-design vice president Tang Yew Tan of carrying confidential information to OpenAI's hardware arm, io Products, which is also named as a defendant. The requested injunction would bar OpenAI, Liu and Tan from accessing, using or disclosing that information while the case proceeds. Apple has also asked the court to fast-track discovery, including depositions of Liu, Tan, OpenAI's Yu-Ting Peng, an unnamed additional former Apple employee, and corporate representatives from both OpenAI and io — and says it believes more ex-Apple staff may be involved.

Before filing, Apple offered to drop the injunction request if OpenAI agreed to five conditions. OpenAI accepted three — stopping use of the material, stopping disclosure, and preserving evidence — but declined forensic inspections and a search of its internal systems, prompting Apple to go to court. Apple's filing argues it "will be irreparably harmed absent a preliminary injunction."

OpenAI has pushed back hard. In a blog post, the company called Apple's request "based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets," and published internal messages it says show Apple staff reached out to Liu for help after he had already left the company, undercutting Apple's narrative. The case now heads to a hearing on 1 October, just as OpenAI's hardware unit, led by Jony Ive's team following the $6.5 billion io acquisition, works toward a screenless desk companion device expected in 2027.

For OpenAI, the commercial risk isn't just legal exposure — it's timing. An injunction covering design-relevant material could complicate development work inside io just as the division moves toward a 2027 launch, giving Apple leverage well beyond any eventual damages award. Publishing private emails is an aggressive counter-move, signalling OpenAI wants this fight resolved in public opinion as much as in court.

Apple, meanwhile, is using litigation to assert a stake in the emerging AI-hardware category before a rival product ships. Whether the 1 October hearing produces an injunction or not, the broader signal to the market is that Apple intends to police former-employee moves into OpenAI's hardware unit aggressively, and that any company hiring from Apple's design and engineering ranks should expect scrutiny. Watch Apple's discovery requests for signs of how many more former employees get drawn in.