Apple has pushed back against OpenAI's trying to delay the trade theft lawsuit while the AI company continues to profit from allegedly stolen information.
Apple first filed suit against OpenAI over alleged mass IP theft in July 2026. Since then, Apple has pressed for a faster start to the proceedings, and OpenAI has basically claimed that Apple is only suing because it can't compete.
OpenAI has argued that Apple's asking for expedited discovery was simply unnecessary. Now Apple has responded to what it categorizes as OpenAI attempting to delay the suit
Apple wants to depose key witnesses and have OpenAI produce documentation to help the company determine what information the ChatGPT developer has allegedly acquired. According to OpenAI, all of this information will be provided during the ordinary course of the case.
OpenAI also maintains that Apple demanding earlier access is moot because some such expedited discovery would overlap with the expected schedule anyway.
Apple has doubled down on its requests, saying that even if there's an overlap, the court agreeing to an early start for"urgent discovery" early means OpenAI will have to respond. It won't be able to obfuscate or delay with "boilerplate objections" stretching the case out for months.
Next, Apple says that OpenAI has agreed to key depositions, but proposes that "they occur only once, presumably at the end of fact discovery." According to Apple, that means it could "have to wait months or years" to ask witnesses about the case.
"Meanwhile, OpenAI could continue to use Apple's hardware trade secrets while racing to design and launch its own hardware device," continues the filing. Apple has also previously said that it is concerned about evidence destruction.
From the start, OpenAI has also taken to the court of public opinion and specifically focused on an incident where an Apple email was sent to the wrong person. AppleInsider noted how this was being overblown by OpenAI, and now Apple has called it "misdirection."
Apple says that this is an attempt to mislead the court when actually OpenAI did receive the right communications. While trying to focus on this mis-addressed email, the filing says OpenAI is avoiding giving any reasons why it ignored Apple's serious concerns.
Then OpenAI has previously gone so far as to argue that Apple hasn't proved it has trade secrets. Apple's response there is that OpenAI is trying to argue that if a document contains any public information, the whole document is public.
According to Apple, this is like saying a document showing the confidential components of a device should be public knowledge if the document shows an iPhone on the cover. Nonetheless, Apple has said, okay, call it "Apple Originated Information" instead of "trade secrets."
Next, OpenAI has apparently objected that Apple failed to specify what dates it wants explored in the discovery. Apple's lawyers point out that OpenAI should not have any of Apple's confidential information," but agreed to specify a timeframe.
Apple is now requesting discovery over any documents or communication dated on or after August 1, 2023. This is roughly six months before key witness Tang Tan left Apple for OpenAI.
Apple's request for expedited discovery is currently scheduled for a hearing on October 1, 2026.
