Apple Reveals Forensic Evidence From Chang Liu’s MacBook in OpenAI Lawsuit

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

In today’s filing, Apple says that Liu’s lawyers recently handed
over his MacBook that he used after leaving Apple. According to
Apple, an “initial forensic analysis” of that MacBook revealed
four things, quoted from Apple’s filing:

  • Mr. Liu not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit
    schematic but also used it in his work at OpenAI;

  • Far from his unauthorized access to Apple’s third-party cloud
    storage being unknown to him, Mr. Liu and others at OpenAI were
    well-aware of that access;

  • Mr. Liu, upon learning of Apple’s internal investigation of him,
    sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague
    who confirmed she would comply; and

  • Mr. Liu used a tool in his work at OpenAI that has the same name
    as an internal Apple engineering application used for Apple
    development work.

9to5Mac is hosting a copy of the original filing from Apple’s lawyers.

The first point seems really bad for OpenAI. On the fourth point, I’m not sure what Apple is alleging here — I think they’re alleging that Liu took an Apple internal engineering app with him over to OpenAI? This is the entirety of that allegation from Apple’s filing:

D. New evidence shows previously unknown use of a tool at OpenAI
that has the same name as an Apple internal engineering tool.

The MacBook also reveals additional acts of potential trade secret
misappropriation previously unknown to Apple. While working at
OpenAI, Mr. Liu referred to using a tool and related software
packages with names identical to proprietary internal engineering
tools used at Apple.

It sounds like the MacBook Apple examined didn’t have the proprietary app on it — just emails or messages where Liu referenced using it.