OpenAI Publishes Response to Apple Trade Secrets Suit
OpenAI published an August 3 response disputing Apple's allegations that former Apple employees took trade secrets connected to future OpenAI hardware, 9to5Mac reports. The post contests Apple's account of pre-suit communications and addresses allegations involving former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan, while linking to email correspondence and messages that OpenAI characterizes as supporting its account.
OpenAI published a detailed August 3 blog post contesting Apple's trade-secret allegations, after Apple sued the ChatGPT maker last month over claims involving hardware-development information, according to 9to5Mac. The OpenAI post, titled "Apple is getting this wrong," disputes Apple's account of its communications with OpenAI before the lawsuit and responds to allegations involving former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan.
OpenAI characterized Apple's lawsuit as "careless, aggressive and oddly personal." That is OpenAI's characterization, not an adjudicated finding. The company linked to email correspondence and messages that it argues document the disputed communications and access issues.
Disputed pre-suit contact
OpenAI wrote that Apple had claimed it contacted OpenAI in February without receiving a response. According to OpenAI, Apple later acknowledged that outside counsel had emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian surnames. OpenAI also wrote that Apple had claimed a discussion with its general counsel occurred, then conceded that it had not.
The company further alleged that Apple did not raise the specific allegations later included in the lawsuit during the earlier contact, and that Apple had said it was "resolving any issues." OpenAI wrote that it heard nothing for five months before the suit was filed. These are contested accounts advanced by OpenAI in its public response.
Former-employee access allegations
OpenAI addressed Apple's allegation that Chang Liu accessed confidential Apple information after leaving the company. OpenAI wrote that Apple employees had contacted Liu and asked him to help locate the information at issue. It attributed any continuing access to what it called a common residual-access problem caused by Apple failing to remove departing employees' system permissions.
On Tang Tan, OpenAI denied that it sought or used Apple's trade secrets. The post stated that Tan had instructed the team not to use confidential information from other companies. Tan worked at Apple for more than 24 years, according to OpenAI.
OpenAI wrote that it had offered to work with Apple to resolve the allegations and criticized Apple's request for a preliminary injunction as being based on false information. Apple has not been represented in the supplied source material with a response to this specific August 3 post.
For AI and hardware practitioners, the dispute illustrates a recurring risk when teams recruit senior personnel from platform companies: confidentiality controls, offboarding access management, and documented handling of inherited knowledge can become central evidence in litigation. Those are general industry compliance considerations, not findings about the parties in this case.
Key Points
- 1OpenAI publicly disputes Apple's trade-secret complaint and links correspondence it argues contradicts Apple's account of pre-suit contact.
- 2The response addresses alleged post-employment data access by Chang Liu and alleged trade-secret use involving Tang Tan.
- 3Comparable talent transitions often make access revocation, confidentiality training, and documented evidence preservation central to legal risk management.
Scoring Rationale
The dispute involves OpenAI, Apple, former senior personnel, and alleged confidential hardware-development information. It is relevant to AI practitioners managing hiring, data access, and intellectual-property controls, but the supplied material documents competing allegations rather than a legal ruling or technical release.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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