OpenAI Fires Back at Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit

OpenAI published a pointed rebuttal on its blog Tuesday, titled "Apple is getting this wrong," directly challenging a lawsuit Apple filed against the company over alleged theft of trade secrets. The post includes screenshots of iMessage and email exchanges that OpenAI says undercut Apple's version of events.

Apple's suit names two former employees now at OpenAI: Chang Liu, once an iPhone engineer, and Tang Tan, who spent 25 years at Apple overseeing iPhone and Apple Watch design before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer. Apple accuses both men of misappropriating confidential information on their way out the door.

The core allegation centers on Liu. Apple claims he failed to return a company-issued computer and, weeks after his last day on January 22, 2026, exploited an authentication vulnerability to access Apple's cloud-based storage network. The company further alleges Liu downloaded confidential files and coached another Apple employee on how to do the same.

Based on those claims, Apple asked a court for a preliminary injunction barring Liu, Tan, and OpenAI from accessing, acquiring, using, or disclosing any of the disputed information.

OpenAI's response pushes back hard on the narrative, insisting it has no interest in Apple's proprietary technology.

"We do not have and do not want any of Apple's trade secrets," OpenAI said in its post.

Beyond the denial, OpenAI's blog raises questions about how the dispute unfolded before reaching a courtroom. The company says Apple's outside lawyers first tried to reach OpenAI in February, but sent their email to the wrong person after mixing up two Asian surnames.

OpenAI also says Apple told the company it was "resolving any issues" around that time, then went silent for five months with no further contact before filing suit. That timeline, as presented by OpenAI, suggests the legal action arrived without the kind of escalating warning typically expected ahead of a trade secrets claim.

Neither the mismatched email nor the five-month gap changes the substance of Apple's allegations against Liu, which remain focused on unauthorized system access and file downloads after his departure. But OpenAI is clearly using the procedural missteps to cast doubt on how seriously Apple's legal team handled the matter before escalating to litigation.

The dispute adds to a growing list of friction points between the two companies, which already compete indirectly as Apple builds out its own AI ambitions while OpenAI expands into hardware under Tan's leadership. How a court weighs OpenAI's document dump against Apple's specific access allegations will likely shape the next phase of the case.