After the judge said he was "highly likely" to grant Apple's injunction, OpenAI is trying to limit the damage by volunteering not to use proprietary information while the case continues.
In July 2026, Apple sued OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft, and after mounting evidence, the ChatGPT maker ceased denying it. Now according to Bloomberg, OpenAI has vowed to not use any proprietary Apple information.
Specifically, OpenAI says it will not use trade secrets from ex-Apple employees while this case continues. That's significant because Judge Edward Davila has said he is "highly likely" to grant Apple an injunction.
If that happens, OpenAI could be forced to entirely cease work on its expected AI device. By instead volunteering to not use Apple's trade secrets ahead of any injunction, OpenAI may temper the extent of a ruling.
OpenAI also volunteered to give Apple forensic images of drives belonging to 14 ex-Apple employees. This, too, is a preemptive move, giving the data it was likely to be ordered to and so perhaps avoiding a wider order.
This is all the latest stage of a case that has yet to go to trial. The latest preparatory hearings have concerned Apple's requests for early discovery of OpenAI information, which Judge Davila has now mostly granted.
However, Apple did not get everything it asked for in court. And at the same time, OpenAI filed a separate suit against Apple alleging that it, too, had stolen trade secrets.
That OpenAI suit is a mirror image of Apple's, down to how it claims Apple didn't respond to the ChatGPT maker's communications. But while OpenAI's suit is about one specific employee going to Apple, it does not name that individual.
Plus the suit alleges that this unnamed employee rejoined Apple in June 2026, and provided OpenAI secrets that were used in the HomeView. However, there is evidence that the HomeView has been in development since no later than 2023.
Apple has denied these allegations.
