Apple sends legal letters to former employees now at OpenAI

Apple has sent legal preservation letters to approximately 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, as part of its lawsuit alleging trade secret theft. The letters demand that the recipients preserve documents and evidence relevant to the dispute, which Apple claims may extend beyond the individuals named in the initial filing.

Last week, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-trade-secret-theft/ in which it alleged that its former employees have stolen trade secrets “for the benefit of OpenAI.” As part of this process, Apple has reportedly sent letters directly to dozens of its former employees now working at OpenAI. According to the Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/1b8c9d52-88a9-426b-ba47-f1811f859166?syn-25a6b1a6=1 , Apple has sent legal preservation letters to around 40 former workers. A preservation letter is a formal written notice sent to a person or organization telling them to preserve documents, records, and other evidence that may be relevant to a legal dispute. These letters typically spell out what should be preserved. This comes as Apple suspects the trade secret theft might extend beyond those named in the initial filing last week. As a refresher, Apple’s lawsuit names OpenAI and io Products as defendants, alongside former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan. You can read more about Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI here: Apple sues OpenAI, accuses ex-employees of stealing trade secrets https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-trade-secret-theft/ An email mistake derailed pre-lawsuit talks between Apple and OpenAI https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/15/report-how-an-email-mistake-derailed-talks-between-apple-and-openai-ahead-of-the-lawsuit/ Apple lawsuit reveals how many of its former employees now work at OpenAI https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/13/apple-lawsuit-reveals-how-many-former-employees-now-work-at-openai/ OpenAI says it has seen no evidence supporting Apple’s trade secret theft claims https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/14/openai-says-it-has-seen-no-evidence-supporting-apples-trade-secret-theft-claims/ OpenAI hardware timeline unchanged after Apple lawsuit https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/13/openai-hardware-timeline-reportedly-unchanged-after-apple-trade-secret-theft-lawsuit/ You can read a full copy of Apple’s initial filing here https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/07/Apple-Inc.-v.-Liu-et-al.pdf . My favorite iPhone accessories: Anker Nano USB-C wall charger with built-in screen https://amzn.to/4cNuxge AirPods Pro 3: Check the current sale price https://amzn.to/4uUqAwW Charge all your Apple gear at the same time https://amzn.to/4tKQtys Bring wireless CarPlay to any car https://amzn.to/3QO4a14 USB-C cable that shows how fast you’re charging https://amzn.to/4tSEoHG Follow Chance : Threads https://www.threads.net/@ChanceHMiller , Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/chancemiller.me , Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chancehmiller/ , and Mastodon https://mastodon.social/@ChanceHMiller . FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. https://9to5mac.com/about/ affiliate our homepage http://9to5mac.com/ for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on exclusive stories https://9to5mac.com/feature/exclusive/ , reviews https://9to5mac.com/guides/review/ , how-tos https://9to5mac.com/guides/how-to/ , and subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/9to5mac