OpenAI Asks Judge to Dismiss Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit

OpenAI has asked a national justice to disregard Apple's suit accusing the AI institution of stealing commercialized secrets, calling the allegations "meritless."


Lawyers for OpenAI said Apple's suit twists the actions of its employees. Bloomberg reports that the filing defends Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, who spent 24 years astatine Apple arsenic VP of merchandise plan for iPhone and Apple Watch earlier leaving to co-found io Products with erstwhile Apple plan main Jony Ive. io merged with OpenAI successful July 2025. OpenAI said Tan followed mean manufacture recruiting practices erstwhile interviewing Apple staff.

OpenAI besides defended elder systems technologist Chang Liu, 1 of 2 erstwhile Apple employees named successful the suit. Apple claims Liu accessed confidential hardware files implicit respective weeks aft uncovering an authentication bug. OpenAI said Liu was simply helping a erstwhile Apple workfellow find accusation for their ain work, and published excerpts of substance messages it says backmost up that account. "Apple should not beryllium permitted to usage a baseless and pretextual lawsuit," OpenAI's lawyers wrote.

OpenAI's question argues Apple ne'er decently identified what accusation really counts arsenic a protectable commercialized secret. The institution said it has nary involvement successful Apple's confidential worldly due to the fact that it is "building thing wholly caller and antithetic from thing astatine Apple."

Axios reported that OpenAI's filing besides disputes however Apple built its case. According to OpenAI, Apple's ain information practices, including letting unit usage idiosyncratic iCloud accounts for enactment and aboriginal reviewing idiosyncratic messages near connected institution devices, are what gave erstwhile employees leftover strategy entree successful the archetypal place, not grounds of a coordinated theft. The 31 leafage filing repeatedly frames the lawsuit arsenic Apple trying to screen for its ain struggles, with variations of the connection "fail" appearing astir 50 times.

OpenAI's filing besides revisited an earlier quality implicit however the 2 sides archetypal fell retired of contact. Apple's suit had claimed OpenAI ne'er responded to its outreach successful February, and that the 2 sides discussed the substance with OpenAI's wide counsel. OpenAI says neither is true, and that the breakdown traced backmost to Apple's ain extracurricular counsel confusing 2 OpenAI employees with akin surnames and sending a connection to the incorrect person.

This week's question follows the suit Apple filed against OpenAI successful July, which accuses the institution of moving a strategy to propulsion confidential merchandise accusation retired of occupation candidates and caller hires. Apple and OpenAI had spent astir 2 years partnering to physique ChatGPT integration into Siri, but the narration soured arsenic OpenAI moved into hardware, a displacement accelerated by its acquisition of Ive's startup. Apple's suit claims much than 400 erstwhile Apple employees present enactment astatine OpenAI.

Apple escalated the lawsuit further this week, asking the aforesaid judge for a preliminary injunction to halt OpenAI from utilizing immoderate alleged commercialized secrets portion the lawsuit continues, on with expedited find targeting Liu, Tan, OpenAI and its foundation, and io. Apple said its probe has since turned up 11 much erstwhile employees who whitethorn person been witnesses oregon different involved, beyond Liu, Tan, and antecedently named OpenAI worker Yu-Ting Peng.

Apple claims 1 erstwhile worker met with Liu and Peng earlier Peng's OpenAI interrogation and discussed proprietary accusation astir unannounced products, and that different took screenshots of confidential documents relating to an unannounced Apple merchandise earlier their ain interview. Apple besides said that aft it filed its complaint, respective erstwhile staffers present astatine OpenAI reached retired astir returning Apple issued devices they had kept.

OpenAI called that injunction petition "based connected mendacious accusation and wholly unnecessary" successful a nationalist blog station responding to Apple's filing. OpenAI has a tribunal ordered deadline of August 17 to formally respond to Apple's preliminary injunction request. The justice is acceptable to perceive arguments connected October 1.
This article, "OpenAI Asks Judge to Dismiss Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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