OpenAI Rebuts Apple Trade Secrets Suit, Cites Identity Errors and Flawed Offboarding

OpenAI on Monday published a detailed rebuttal to Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit, releasing internal emails and text messages while claiming the iPhone maker relied on basic factual errors and mistaken identities when bringing the legal action.

In a public response, the artificial intelligence company said Apple misidentified employees with similar surnames, falsely reported that OpenAI ignored pre-suit outreach, and erroneously claimed Apple’s outside counsel spoke with OpenAI General Counsel Che Chang before filing the lawsuit in July.

The legal clash targets OpenAI’s growing hardware division, which expanded following its 2025 acquisition of a venture associated with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Apple’s complaint names OpenAI, former Apple design executive Tang Tan, former engineer Chang Liu, and io Products, seeking a preliminary injunction that could restrict OpenAI’s development of consumer devices.

Apple’s lawsuit alleges that Liu retained a company laptop after leaving in January, exploited an authentication bug to download confidential engineering documents, and that Tan used proprietary Apple information to assist OpenAI’s hardware work. Apple also asserted that OpenAI’s hiring practices actively encouraged new recruits to bring proprietary materials.

OpenAI contested the allegations regarding Liu by publishing post-departure iMessage logs. The exchanges show active Apple employees contacting Liu after he left the company to ask for assistance in locating files, transferring documents, and answering technical questions. OpenAI argued that any lingering system access stemmed from Apple’s own offboarding procedures rather than improper access by Liu.

Regarding Tan, OpenAI stated the former executive received explicit instructions not to transfer or use confidential assets from his former employer. The company asked the court to deny Apple’s requested preliminary injunction.

“Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction is both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” OpenAI wrote in its published response. “We’re much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier.”

OpenAI also pushed back against the tone and accuracy of the litigation. “Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details,” the company stated. “This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn’t live up to that reputation.”