Apple's commercial secrets dispute with OpenAI has escalated further. Apple recently filed a preliminary injunction with the court, requesting to restrict OpenAI from continuing to develop AI devices and related products that are suspected of using Apple's technology, and also requested to expedite the discovery process against OpenAI, its affiliated foundation, AI hardware startup io, as well as relevant parties including OpenAI senior system engineer Chang Liu and Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan.

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New court documents reveal that after continued investigation, Apple believes that 11 former Apple employees may be related to the case or hold key evidence in addition to the initially sued individuals. Apple stated that new evidence shows that one former employee discussed proprietary information about unreleased products with the involved personnel before an interview at OpenAI, and another former employee had intercepted confidential documents related to unreleased products.

Additionally, Apple stated that after the lawsuit was initiated, several current OpenAI employees and former Apple employees proactively contacted to return Apple devices they had retained upon leaving, further raising Apple's concerns about the scope of intellectual property leaks. Therefore, Apple requested the court to expedite the discovery process and cooperate with the ongoing preliminary injunction application.

In response, OpenAI publicly stated that Apple's injunction request is "based on false information and unnecessary," emphasizing that the company has neither obtained nor intended to obtain Apple's trade secrets, and its development focus has always been on innovative products and technologies. OpenAI also refuted that Apple had previously mistakenly sent emails to irrelevant people due to name confusion and accused Apple of not acknowledging that some former employees could still access internal systems, which stemmed from its own security management flaws.

As the legal battle between the two sides over trade secrets and AI hardware development continues to escalate, this lawsuit may have a lasting impact on intellectual property protection and industry competition in the AI hardware sector.