Apple has asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction preventing OpenAI and two former Apple employees from accessing or using information that the company claims was improperly obtained.

The requested order would bar OpenAI, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan from accessing, acquiring, using or disclosing Apple’s alleged confidential information while the lawsuit proceeds. Apple is also seeking the return of any confidential materials held by the defendants.

Apple said it could suffer irreparable harm if its trade secrets are incorporated into OpenAI’s products, hardware development or internal operations.

The company also filed a motion seeking expedited discovery, including documents related to the defendants’ alleged access to Apple information. Apple requested depositions from Liu, Tan, OpenAI employee Yu Ting Peng and another unnamed OpenAI employee who previously worked at Apple.

Apple is also seeking testimony from corporate representatives of OpenAI and io Products, the hardware company OpenAI acquired as part of its expansion into consumer devices.

OpenAI rejected the request, saying the proposed injunction was based on false information and was unnecessary.

“We do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” OpenAI said in a company statement.

Apple filed the lawsuit in July in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint names OpenAI, io Products, Liu and Tan and alleges that they misappropriated Apple’s confidential hardware information to support OpenAI’s consumer device development.

Liu previously worked as a senior system electrical engineer at Apple before joining OpenAI in January. Apple alleges that he retained access to internal systems after leaving and used an authentication issue to download dozens of confidential hardware files.

OpenAI said current Apple employees contacted Liu after his departure and asked for help locating files and information needed for their work. The company published excerpts of messages that it said supported its account.

Tan served as Apple’s vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch before becoming OpenAI’s hardware chief. Apple alleges that he transferred confidential supplier information and sought proprietary details from Apple employees and job candidates.

OpenAI said Tan had instructed its hardware team not to obtain or use confidential information belonging to other companies.

Apple said in its complaint that more than 400 former Apple employees now work for OpenAI. The companies have also worked together since 2024, when Apple integrated access to ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence.