Apple Accuses OpenAI Of Destroying Evidence In Trade Secret Suit: Elon Musk Mocks Sam Altman, Says ‘Leopard Cannot Change Its Spots’

• The iPhone maker is seeking to speed up discovery in the case and wants damages and an order barring OpenAI from using the allegedly stolen material.
• OpenAI has pushed back against the allegations and is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.
• The legal fight comes as OpenAI faces intensifying competition from Anthropic, whose revenue growth and private-market valuation have recently outpaced its rival.

Apple Inc. said in a new court filing that OpenAI is destroying evidence in its trade secret lawsuit against the AI firm, escalating the feud between the two tech giants and giving Elon Musk another opportunity to take a jab at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 

“A leopard cannot change its spots,” Musk wrote on X on Monday, responding to the new details in the suit.

Apple said former iPhone engineer Chang Liu not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic after joining OpenAI but also used it in his work at the AI company.  

In a court filing Monday, reported by Bloomberg, Apple said OpenAI had only recently handed over a MacBook Liu used after he left Apple for OpenAI in January. An initial forensic review allegedly found that Liu and others at OpenAI knew he retained unauthorized access to Apple’s third-party cloud storage accounts.

Apple also alleged that Liu used the laptop to instruct an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence, and the colleague confirmed she would comply. The iPhone maker said the findings show that its case is not a “fishing expedition,” but evidence that its trade secrets were being used and potentially destroyed.

Liu is one of more than 400 former Apple employees who have joined OpenAI as the AI company pushes into hardware, according to Bloomberg. Apple has asked the court to accelerate discovery and is seeking damages as well as an order requiring OpenAI to stop using any allegedly stolen proprietary material.

OpenAI has sought to have the case dismissed, maintaining that its recruiting practices were standard and that Liu was accessing Apple data only to help a former colleague. 

The dispute adds another layer to the increasingly bitter relationship between Apple and OpenAI, which deteriorated after OpenAI brought former Apple design chief Jony Ive into its hardware efforts. The companies had previously partnered to integrate ChatGPT into Apple products.

Musk Piles On Altman’s Woes

Musk has repeatedly clashed with Altman in public since their relationship at OpenAI soured. The two have traded insults on X, with Musk calling Altman a “swindler” after Altman mocked Musk’s $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI in 2025. Altman has described Musk’s actions as driven partly by insecurity and competition with xAI.  

Musk’s own legal battle with OpenAI has also reached a major turning point. A federal jury in May rejected his lawsuit accusing Altman and OpenAI of abandoning the nonprofit mission on the grounds that Musk had waited too long to bring his claims.

But the feud has hardly disappeared. OpenAI this week said it would wind down its deal to provide models to Cursor after SpaceX acquired the coding startup, citing concerns over Musk-owned companies’ compliance with contracts. 

OpenAI On Backfoot

OpenAI’s revenue rose 18% quarter over quarter to $6.7 billion in the second quarter, while sales at Anthropic doubled, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, signaling a widening gap.

The divergence highlights how quickly the AI race has shifted, with slower ChatGPT growth and Claude Code’s success putting OpenAI on the back foot and forcing a business and leadership overhaul.

OpenAI has reportedly pushed its IPO to next year, while reports suggest Anthropic might launch its offering next month or in early October. 

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment was ‘bullish’ for both OpenAI and Anthropic. Anthropic is valued at $1.18 trillion, compared to OpenAI’s private market valuation of $875.06 billion, according to data from Nasdaq Private Market.

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