Apple has filed a request for a preliminary injunction in its ongoing trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI. Without a preliminary injunction, Apple says it will be “irreparably harmed” by the theft of its trade secrets.
In the filing, Apple explains that it sent OpenAI a letter after filing the initial lawsuit last month, saying it “intended to move for preliminary injunctive relief.” However, Apple said this could be avoided if OpenAI would agree to the following five things:
- .Stop accessing or using Apple’s confidential information
- Halt any ongoing use or disclosure
- Preserve all evidence
- Allow forensic inspections of devices, cloud storage, email, Slack, Teams, and other repositories
- Search OpenAI’s systems for any Apple confidential information
According to Apple, OpenAI agreed to the first three items, but the two sides could not reach an agreement about the last two requests.
As a result, Apple is asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction. Apple is asking the judge to immediately stop OpenAI from using or obtaining any Apple trade secrets, preserve all evidence, let Apple conduct forensic inspections of OpenAI’s devices and accounts, and recover any Apple confidential information still in OpenAI’s possession.
Apple says:
The harm is happening now—every day that passes without an injunction allows OpenAI to embed their knowledge of Apple’s stolen information into its hardware development efforts, further damaging Apple and making it increasingly more difficult to unwind the harm.
Apple also filed a separate motion asking the court to expedite discovery, including early document production and depositions of key OpenAI employees and executives.
Apple’s filings coincide with OpenAI publishing its longest public response yet to Apple’s lawsuit. In an overnight blog post, OpenAI said that the “careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit” doesn’t live up to Apple’s reputation as “one of the greatest companies of all time.”
The hearing on the injunction is set for Oct. 1, 2026. You can view the full filing below.
My favorite iPhone accessories:
Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
