Apple has filed fresh allegations against OpenAI, alleging that former employee Chang Liu used confidential Apple data and tools for his work at the AI firm.

The new evidence comes after Liu's legal counsel handed over his old Apple work laptop for investigation earlier this month. The laptop is believed to contain crucial information about the alleged trade secrets theft.

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According to Apple, Liu used a confidential Apple circuit schematic and a tool that shares a name with an internal Apple engineering application at OpenAI. The company claims that OpenAI was aware of Liu's access to Apple data, but failed to act on it.

Liu allegedly enlisted the help of colleague Yu-Ting Peng to destroy evidence in June when he learned that Apple was investigating him. This move is seen as a desperate attempt to cover up the alleged wrongdoing.

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Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction, which would block OpenAI from working on hardware based on Apple's technology while the case is ongoing. The company also wants expedited discovery, a fast-tracked process for gathering evidence, since it believes more former employees may be implicated in the allegations.

The investigation has revealed that over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, raising concerns about the scale of the alleged data theft. Apple is pushing back against OpenAI's claims that residual access to Apple files was a common issue, arguing that Liu exploited a rare authentication bug to gain unauthorized access.