OpenAI publishes messages disputing Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit claims
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
OpenAI has escalated its public rebuttal of Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, publishing message exchanges that it says contradict Apple's account of how former engineer Chang Liu accessed company files after leaving for OpenAI. The blog post, titled "Apple is getting this wrong," reveals that Apple staff had actually contacted Liu asking for his help locating information, undermining the claim that he acted improperly by accessing it himself; OpenAI attributes this to Apple's own poor management of system access for departing employees, rather than any wrongdoing by Liu.
The lawsuit, filed last month, also names Tang Tan, a 25-year Apple veteran who led iPhone and Apple Watch design before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer. Apple alleges Liu failed to return a company computer, exploited an authentication flaw to access confidential cloud storage weeks after leaving, downloaded files, and coached a colleague on how to do the same while avoiding detection. Reuters reports Apple sought a preliminary injunction on Monday to block Liu, Tan and OpenAI from using any alleged confidential material, which OpenAI has dismissed as "based on false information and completely unnecessary," insisting it neither has nor wants Apple's trade secrets.
- OpenAI published messages rebutting Apple's trade secrets lawsuit publicly
- Apple staff had asked ex-engineer Liu for help finding files
- Apple sought Monday injunction against Liu, Tan and OpenAI
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OpenAI and Apple are locked in a legal dispute over trade secrets, centred on Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer who left to join OpenAI. Apple accuses Liu of improperly accessing confidential company files after his departure and of helping a colleague do the same, while OpenAI says the messages it has released show Apple staff actually asked Liu for help finding information, and that any access issue stems from Apple's own handling of departing employees' system permissions.
The case also involves Tang Tan, a long-serving Apple executive who oversaw iPhone and Apple Watch design before moving to OpenAI to become its chief hardware officer. Apple filed the lawsuit last month and has since asked a court for an injunction to stop Liu, Tan and OpenAI from using any material it considers confidential.
The dispute matters because it touches on how easily employees, and the knowledge they carry, can move between major tech companies, and how far firms can go to protect proprietary information when staff join a competitor. It also reflects wider tension between Apple and OpenAI, two companies increasingly overlapping in hardware and AI development.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Apple's position rests on legitimate and widely-recognised interests: companies invest heavily in confidential product development, and departing staff have clear obligations to return equipment and refrain from accessing systems once they have left. Apple argues that a former engineer retained a company computer, exploited an authentication gap weeks after departure, downloaded files and allegedly advised a colleague on how to do the same undetected — conduct that, if proven, would look less like an oversight and more like deliberate circumvention. Seeking a preliminary injunction is a standard and proportionate step for a company that believes former employees, now working for a well-resourced competitor building similar hardware, may be using or retaining sensitive material while litigation proceeds.
The case against
OpenAI and its engineer make a reasonable case that intent matters, and that the underlying facts look very different from Apple's framing: if Apple's own staff contacted Liu asking for his help locating information after he left, that points to Apple's failure to revoke access promptly rather than any scheme by Liu to steal secrets. Publishing the message exchanges is a fair way to test a serious public allegation against verifiable evidence, and OpenAI's insistence that it neither possesses nor wants Apple's trade secrets reflects a genuine concern that sweeping injunctions and litigation can be used to hamper competitors' hiring and product development based on incomplete or misleading claims, rather than genuine misappropriation.
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Originally published by The Verge as “OpenAI drags Apple’s lawsuit into the court of public opinion”.