OpenAI has hit back at Apple in a blog post, describing the tech giant's trade secrets lawsuit as a "careless, aggressive and oddly personal" legal action, and insisting it neither has nor wants any of Apple's confidential information. The dispute, which began last month when Apple sued OpenAI over alleged theft of hardware designs for planned AI-focused consumer devices, marks a sharp deterioration in relations between two firms that once partnered on integrating AI into Apple's products but now increasingly compete, with OpenAI moving into consumer hardware and Apple teaming up with Google to overhaul Siri.

Apple's lawsuit claims more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI, and names two individuals specifically: Chang Liu, a former Apple staffer accused of accessing sensitive product data after leaving in January, and Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer, accused of probing for proprietary information during job interviews. OpenAI disputed both claims, saying Apple employees themselves had asked Liu for help locating the information, and that Tan had always told staff not to use confidential material from other firms. OpenAI also said Apple's lawyers had contacted the wrong person over a mix-up of "two Asian last names" and had gone quiet for five months after saying it was "resolving any issues," only to then file suit and seek a preliminary injunction along with expedited depositions of Liu, Tan and others. Apple had not responded to a request for comment.