Judge signals he is likely to grant Apple an injunction against OpenAI

Apple may be about to win the first real round in its legal fight with OpenAI. On October 14, 2026, US District Judge Edward J. Davila said he is “highly likely” to grant Apple a preliminary injunction against OpenAI, io Products, and two former Apple employees. What the judge said and why it matters Apple filed the trade-secret lawsuit on July 10, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The case number is 5:26-cv-07078-EJD. The defendants are OpenAI, io Products, and two people who used to work at Apple: Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan. Liu is a former Apple engineer. Tan is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, and he previously served as Apple’s VP of product design. Apple alleges the defendants ran a coordinated effort to take confidential hardware knowledge from the company. That allegedly includes product designs and manufacturing processes. The claimed goal, according to Apple’s complaint, was to speed up OpenAI’s progress in consumer hardware. The specific accusations differ by person. Apple alleges Liu mishandled Apple data after leaving the company. Tan is accused of using his Apple knowledge to help drive OpenAI’s hardware development. A busy tw...