Apple has sharpened its trade-secrets case against OpenAI by arguing that artificial intelligence can lock stolen confidential information into systems in ways ordinary document theft does not, a stance that has drawn supportive market and analyst reaction. In a supplemental brief filed Monday supporting expedited discovery in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple said a former employee’s use of company secrets while at OpenAI and use of AI agents to learn to run simulations raise concerns beyond ordinary document theft. Apple’s lawyers wrote that when trade-secret information is fed into an AI agent or model that learns from it, that learning may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the secret—harm that is uniquely challenging to undo and requires prompt investigation. The filing builds on claims that former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu took core power-conversion circuit designs after moving to OpenAI, with forensic review of a MacBook OpenAI produced August 21 said to show post-resignation Apple cloud access, download of a confidential circuit schematic used in OpenAI work, retained unauthorized access, and a request that a colleague delete related materials, including alleged use of Apple technical information in March to train AI agents and run circuit simulations. Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster said that after reviewing both sides’ latest statements Apple appears to have the upper hand, arguing its evidence-destruction claims are likely credible because they would otherwise be a reckless step for a company that typically plays a conservative legal hand. OpenAI has denied the allegations as baseless, saying disputed materials were empty zero-byte files sent by mistake, blaming Apple’s offboarding and access controls, calling the dispute a mess of Apple’s own making, and opposing a preliminary injunction. Apple sued in July naming Liu, former executive Tang Tan, OpenAI, and Jony Ive’s device venture after roughly 400 former Apple staff joined OpenAI and after OpenAI’s roughly $6.4–$6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s company shifted the firms from a 2024 ChatGPT-Siri partnership into hardware rivalry. Apple closed at $325.13, up 2.61% on Tuesday, as Munster noted shares rising about 3% versus a Nasdaq decline of about 1%, and traded at $324.80 in Wednesday premarket, down 0.10%. A hearing on Apple’s injunction request is set for October 1.