RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesGo to the 9to5Mac home page Switch site 9to5Toys 9to5Google Logo 9to5Google Electrek Drone DJ Logo DroneDJ Space Explored About Privacy Toggle social menu Toggle dark mode Search for: Submit Toggle search form Forums Store Podcasts Apple@Work Happy Hour 9to5Mac Daily Overtime iPhone iPhone Mac Mac MacBook Pro MacBook Air iMac Mac mini Mac Studio Mac Pro iPad iPad Pro iPad Air iPad mini iPad iPadOS Watch Apple Watch Apple Watch Ultra Apple Health Apple Watch SE Vision Vision Pro visionOS Music and TV Apple Music AirPods HomePod Apple TV Guides Reviews How Tos AAPL Apple Store Apple Arcade Apple Card Apple Silicon Apple One Apple Fitness+ CarPlay Siri HomeKit Toggle dark mode AAPL Company iCloud OpenAI Apple lawsuit against OpenAI says iCloud mess didn't play a role Ben Lovejoy | Aug 5 2026 - 4:14 am PT 0 Comments One of the theories voiced about how a former Apple employee may have accessed confidential documents after leaving the company to join OpenAI has been dispelled by a court filing.
It has been suggested that access to the documents may have been inadvertent due to a seemingly messy iCloud arrangement for Apple employees – but the company says this is not the case …
Apple last month filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets related to hardware projects. One focus of the claims related to a former Apple employee called Chang Liu, who moved to OpenAI. Here's a brief timeline of events:
OpenAI said that an information security failure by Apple was responsible for former employees retaining "unwanted" access to confidential documents after their departure.
[Apple fails] to properly manage system access when people leave. What that means in practice is that former employees who are trying to do the right thing when they leave still have access to Apple files — despite not wanting them or even being aware of them.
Earlier this week, The Information carried a report indicating that this was a reference to a messy iCloud situation .
When new employees join Apple, the company often issues them an iPhone and Mac and pays for an iCloud account with a large amount of online storage capacity. Crucially, during the onboarding process, Apple encourages new hires to use their preexisting personal Apple IDs with this iCloud account, through which their co-workers can share internal Apple documents and other files with them.
It says that while Apple removes access to company-managed iCloud folders, it's likely that many documents will have been shared with the personal accounts of Apple employees – and they not only continue to have access to these after their departure but may also receive pushed updates to these.
In other words, former employees may be pushed updates to confidential documents on their personal devices without any wrongdoing on their part.
However, Daring Fireball's John Gruber points out that Apple specifically says in its filing that the documents in question were not stored on iCloud.
While Apple seeks discovery into what Apple confidential information Mr. Liu accessed from his personal storage accounts (including iCloud) and devices after his departure, the specific unauthorized downloads referenced in the complaint and at the heart of this motion are not based on iCloud activity, but instead relate to Apple’s third-party cloud storage.
Gruber says this is extremely likely to relate to the cloud storage service Box, which is widely used by Apple.
At present, this is all a matter of claims and counterclaims. We'll need to wait for the court case itself to separate fact from fiction.
The messy iCloud situation, however, does appear to be tacitly acknowledged by Apple. The apparent goal of this arrangement is to avoid the need for Apple employees to carry two iPhones – personal and work. While this is understandable, it does seem to create a significant security hole.
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Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He's known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!
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