OpenAI has taken its arguments public in response to Apple’s July lawsuit accusing the company of obtaining confidential information as it builds an AI-based hardware business. Apple’s claim — that OpenAI sought out private information using former Apple employees and other tactics to accelerate its product rollout — has escalated a longstanding tension between the two companies.
What Apple alleges
In its court filing, Apple says OpenAI made significant efforts to acquire confidential information, including by hiring former Apple employees. The complaint specifically names Chang Liu, a former Apple employee who joined OpenAI in January, alleging Liu used a colleague’s laptop to download technical documents.
OpenAI’s public rebuttal
In a blog post titled “Apple misunderstands this,” OpenAI called the lawsuit a baseless witch-hunt and said it has evidence disproving Apple’s account. OpenAI stated that Apple’s request for preliminary relief is "partly based on false information and partly unnecessary because we do not possess Apple’s trade secrets and do not want them." The company emphasized its focus on developing new, boundary-pushing products and technologies.
To support its position, OpenAI published excerpts of emails and iMessage conversations intended to show that Apple’s description of events is incomplete or misleading. Those posted materials are heavily redacted — including removal of many potentially sensitive details such as Apple employee names — which outside observers, including Gizmodo, noted makes them harder to evaluate.
OpenAI argues that Chang Liu did nothing wrong and contends the underlying problem was Apple’s failure to manage system access properly when employees leave the company.
Procedural and factual disputes
OpenAI also disputed aspects of how the legal complaint arose, pointing to what it called an embarrassing mistake by Apple: the company originally asserted that it had contacted OpenAI in February and received no response, but later acknowledged that its outside lawyers had sent an email to the wrong person after mixing up two Asian surnames.
Why OpenAI went public and potential impact
By making its defense public, OpenAI appears to be seeking reputational support and media attention that might increase pressure on Apple to soften its legal stance, negotiate, or moderate its public messaging. The curated set of texts posted on OpenAI’s corporate blog is not a legal adjudication, and a court will ultimately decide the merits of Apple’s claims.
The dispute looks set to become a lengthy legal battle between two major technology companies, with potential implications for both parties’ reputations and for OpenAI’s emerging hardware plans.
Notes
The quotes and cited documents come from OpenAI’s published materials; independent outlets have cautioned that heavily redacted screenshots and message extracts can be difficult to analyze conclusively.
