OpenAI Hits Back At Apple In Trade Secrets Lawsuit

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times,

OpenAI has pushed back against Apple’s accusations that it stole the iPhone maker’s hardware secrets, blaming the dispute on Apple’s own handling of departing employees.

In a court filing on Monday, OpenAI asked a federal judge to deny Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would bar the ChatGPT maker and two former Apple employees from accessing, using, or disclosing alleged trade secrets while the case proceeds.

“This dispute is a mess of Apple’s own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else,” OpenAI said in the filing.

Apple sued OpenAI in July in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The company accused OpenAI and former Apple employees Tang Tan and Chang Liu of misusing confidential information related to hardware design, manufacturing, and supply-chain operations.

Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple and previously served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.

Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple, now serves on OpenAI’s technical staff.

In its complaint, Apple alleged that Tan used confidential project code names during interviews. It also claimed he asked at least one candidate to bring “actual parts” they had worked on at Apple for a “show and tell” session.

Apple further alleged that Liu continued to access company files after leaving by exploiting what it described as a “rare, previously unknown authentication bug.”

OpenAI has denied those allegations.

In Tan’s case, OpenAI said he returned Apple prototypes before leaving and kept only nonconfidential material.

It also said any components brought to interviews were either old or publicly available and were used only as “demonstration aids.”

OpenAI also defended Liu, saying any Apple files he accessed after leaving were retrieved at the request of former colleagues.

According to OpenAI, those employees contacted him for help locating documents or answering questions about his previous work.

The Epoch Times has requested comment from Apple regarding OpenAI’s latest filing.

Apple Cites New Evidence

Earlier on Monday, Apple submitted what it described as new evidence against Liu as it sought expedited discovery in the case.

Apple alleged that Liu accessed Apple’s confidential “power-converter circuit” schematic while working at OpenAI, and that he used proprietary Apple information to train an AI agent in March.

Apple said the evidence emerged from a MacBook that OpenAI provided to the company on Aug. 21 as part of the legal proceedings. Much of the underlying evidence remains redacted from public view.

“The MacBook represents the very limited information Defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting ‘fishing expeditions’ but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed,” the filing states.

OpenAI, however, said the episode only shows Apple’s own shortcomings when it comes to offboarding.

According to OpenAI, Apple encourages employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work, making it more difficult to separate personal and company files when they leave.

The company also argued that Apple’s practice of immediately escorting some departing employees from its offices can leave little time to return devices, transfer files, or hand over responsibilities.

“Apple blames employees who left the company for taking their personal accounts with them – even though Apple encouraged them to use personal accounts for work,” OpenAI said.

The competing filings mark the latest escalation in a lawsuit that could provide an unusual look inside the two tech giants.

As the case moves deeper into the discovery phase, both sides could be required to disclose more details about how they recruit talent, develop hardware, and control who has access to what level of secrets.

From AI Partners to Hardware Rivals

There have been days when Apple and OpenAI enjoyed a less contentious relationship.

The two announced a partnership in June 2024 that brought ChatGPT into Apple products, allowing Siri and other Apple Intelligence features to tap into OpenAI’s chatbot for some requests.

But OpenAI has since expanded aggressively into consumer hardware.

In May 2025, OpenAI acquired io Products, a hardware startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive.

The deal, valued at $6.5 billion, brought Ive and his team into a close partnership with OpenAI as the company sought to develop a new generation of AI-powered devices.

Tan left Apple before joining io and later became OpenAI’s chief hardware officer. Apple’s lawsuit does not name Ive individually as a defendant.

Apple, meanwhile, has broadened its own AI partnerships.

In January, the company struck a multiyear deal to use Google’s Gemini models as the foundation for future Apple Intelligence features, including its revamped Siri.

The legal fight erupted in July, when Apple accused OpenAI of using former Apple employees to obtain confidential information that could help it develop competing consumer hardware.

Apple has also alleged that OpenAI approached some of Apple’s business partners using confidential information.

OpenAI has denied wrongdoing and portrayed the lawsuit as Apple’s attempt to slow a potential competitor and discourage employees from leaving.

It said in Monday’s filing that roughly 400 former Apple employees have joined its hardware efforts.

The ChatGPT maker argued that California law allows workers to move freely between competing companies, and that Apple cannot characterize ordinary employee departures as unlawful just because they join a rival.

“Apple cannot stop the next 400 employees from leaving by filing baseless lawsuits,” OpenAI said.

“They can leave a company like Apple that has struggled to adopt AI and move to an exciting startup that builds innovative products,” it continued.

“Apple may not like those choices. But it cannot claim those choices are unlawful.”