Key takeaways
- Apple vs OpenAI now has a trial date: July 19, 2027, before Judge Edward Davila in San Jose. OpenAI’s first device, designed by Jony Ive’s team, is not expected before the end of February 2027.
- On October 27, the judge gave Apple access to records of ex-Apple engineer Chang Liu’s use of AI tools, including ChatGPT and Claude. Apple still has not said exactly what its trade secret is, and the judge called its definition “amorphous”.
- My view: Apple is fighting a product nobody has seen yet. The people who left did not take Apple’s files, they took their heads. If Apple wins, we all wait longer for real competition.
On October 28, Judge Edward Davila set the schedule in Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, Jony Ive’s io Products and two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan. The trial starts on July 19, 2027. Fact discovery closes in March, and the lawyers must meet to discuss a settlement by June 1, 2027. Apple can still add new defendants until November 30, 2026.
A day earlier, the judge gave Apple access to records of how Liu used AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Codex on his personal and work devices. At a hearing on October 14, Davila said Apple is “highly likely” to win a preliminary injunction, but he has not ruled yet, and OpenAI has agreed not to use any Apple trade secrets while the case runs. OpenAI denies everything and called the lawsuit “careless, aggressive and oddly personal”. Its first device is not expected before the end of February 2027.
| Date | Apple vs OpenAI |
|---|---|
| July 10, 2026 | Apple sues OpenAI, io Products, Chang Liu and Tang Tan |
| October 13, 2026 | Apple gets early access to devices, messages and depositions |
| October 14, 2026 | Judge: injunction “highly likely”, not yet granted |
| October 27, 2026 | Apple gets records of Liu’s use of ChatGPT, Claude and other AI tools |
| November 30, 2026 | Last day for Apple to add new defendants |
| End of February 2027 | Earliest expected date for OpenAI’s first device |
| June 1, 2027 | Lawyers must meet about a settlement |
| July 19, 2027 | Trial starts |
In this article: A lawsuit against a product nobody has seen · You sue, but you can’t say what was stolen · They left with their heads, not your files · ChatGPT? The one you put in Siri? · The judge said “highly likely”. That can change · Why I don’t believe in a settlement · If Apple wins, we all lose · FAQ
A lawsuit against a product nobody has seen
Let’s start here. For God’s sake, a giant like Apple really feels that real competition is coming. Some people say it is all speculation. The facts say something completely different. We know corporations well. They do not start lawsuits just because someone left the company. They start them when they are afraid that the best people got together.
And look at the timing. The trial starts in July 2027. OpenAI’s device should come out months before that. So Apple is fighting a product that does not even exist on the market yet. In my opinion, the whole thing smells of one goal: not to let OpenAI onto the market with its device. I am not the first to say it, but every new step only confirms it.
You sue, but you can’t say what was stolen
What fascinates me most: the court told Apple that its definition of what was taken, which Apple calls “Apple Originated Information”, is “amorphous”. And Apple still keeps pushing that something was stolen.
To be fair, Apple names areas: more than a thousand pages of circuit board documents, a metal finishing technique, battery suppliers, parts brought to job interviews. But it never said exactly what the trade secret is. That is OpenAI’s main argument, and the judge partly agreed. So what kind of company, or person, goes to court without saying clearly what was stolen?
They left with their heads, not your files
The way I see it, Apple saying “we have a feeling something was stolen when our best people left” is fake. Those people created the best and most innovative things at Apple. When they left, they went with their own heads to another company, and now they do it better for someone else.
In California, non-compete clauses are not valid. Apple cannot stop people from going to a competitor. All it can do is sue over secrets. And now these people should pay for their own brains and not work for the competition? That is laughable.
Poor Apple is angry now. You should have kept the best people, and not played the hero, saying you will manage and find better ones. And then you show us a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen that, I think, everyone will laugh at in a year, because nobody wants it.
ChatGPT? The one you put in Siri?
Now Apple wants to know whether Liu used ChatGPT at work. I am curious: did your contracts say that using AI at work is forbidden? If not, what exactly are you looking for? For me, this is already an illusion. Apple does not know what to grab on to.
You pushed ChatGPT, Google and Claude into your stupid Siri yourselves. Apple Intelligence runs on Google’s Gemini, and ChatGPT and Claude are options in Siri. And now you are surprised that your engineers use them? It would not surprise me at all if Apple soon started a lawsuit against something it uses itself, because it is so far behind that it puts its competitors into its own devices. And then it is surprised that someone’s data runs away. Maybe next time it will be Google, because some data “escaped”. That is my guess, but it would fit.
The richest company, almost, on the market, and it does not want to invest billions into its own AI. So it puts the competition inside, and then it tries to destroy that competition through the courts so it can’t compete with Apple. That is next-level pathetic.
The judge said “highly likely”. That can change
Yes, the judge said Apple is “highly likely” to win the injunction. But that can change with every new fact. Nothing has been decided yet.
And yes, Liu and his former colleague Alyssa Peng talked about wiping devices Apple gave them. That does not look good, I admit it. But Apple still does not say which device or which secret this is about. It only hints. Nobody knows what exactly was stolen. I think nothing like that was stolen at all. These people made Apple what it is.
OpenAI has its own accusation: that someone who went back to Apple took more than 100 files about an OpenAI device, and it hints at HomeView. Honestly, I do not care where that idea came from. I think HomeView will go the way of Vision Pro anyway.
Why I don’t believe in a settlement
A settlement? I don’t believe it. Apple pushes too hard to stop OpenAI. In my opinion, Apple is really afraid that by 2030 it will not make anything new, and then there will be a competitor number one on the market that everyone talks about and waits for. The way people waited for Apple. That will change, and everyone will wait for new devices from OpenAI. OpenAI has a big chance.
Apple says more than 400 of its former employees work at OpenAI. For me, 400 is little. I think that number will keep growing, because it is not so good inside Apple, and there is no innovation. When someone comes with a really interesting idea, they probably shut it down, give us a sad touchscreen and raise the price by $400 for the same model they released in spring. People want to work and make innovations. Apple stops them, and then it sues them so their ideas never go further.
If Apple wins, we all lose
I am the one who has been waiting for this device for so long. People want something new. Apple decided that it must not happen. I am on OpenAI’s side. I want them to win this case, and not get a ban that stops them from doing anything.
If Apple wins, we will not see the device for maybe a year, maybe two. And that is bad. The court would be on the side of a corporation that has not given us real innovation for years and only raises prices on everything. And Apple would learn how to destroy competition with lawyers. That is bad for competition, for prices and for the whole economy.
I said it before: with this attitude, Apple can become the second Nokia, which also denied innovation in its time. And it is not that far away.
So please, OpenAI, show us something this spring that gets Ternus out of his chair. Make Apple build good devices again. We need healthy competition, and people need a choice.
Also on Evolt News: Apple vs OpenAI: round two · OpenAI says an ex-employee took its device secrets to Apple · ChatGPT in iCloud Mail and Calendar
Photo: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
This article is opinion.
Apple vs OpenAI trial: FAQ
When is the Apple vs OpenAI trial?
The trial starts on July 19, 2027, in federal court in San Jose, California, before Judge Edward Davila.
What is Apple accusing OpenAI of?
Apple says former employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan took confidential hardware information to OpenAI and io Products, including circuit board documents, supplier details and a metal finishing technique. OpenAI denies it and says Apple never identified a specific trade secret.
Has the judge ruled on the injunction?
Not yet. At the October 14 hearing, Judge Davila said Apple is “highly likely” to win a preliminary injunction. OpenAI agreed not to use any Apple trade secrets while the case runs.
Why does Apple want Chang Liu’s ChatGPT and Claude records?
On October 27, the judge allowed Apple to get records of Liu’s use of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Codex on his personal and work devices, as part of early discovery.
When will OpenAI release its Jony Ive device?
According to OpenAI’s court filings reported by Wired, the first device will not ship to customers before the end of February 2027.
Sources: court records, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Bloomberg Law, Fortune, Wired, Reuters, Gizmodo.
Our Take
Apple vs OpenAI will reach a courtroom in July 2027, after OpenAI’s first device is expected to launch. Apple has won the early procedural rounds, but it still has not said exactly what its trade secret is, while it pushes for an injunction against a product nobody has seen.
The way I see it, the people who left took their talent, not Apple’s files. If Apple wins, the real competition comes later, and we all pay for it.
