OpenAI slams Apple's trade secrets lawsuit as 'meritless'

OpenAI has escalated its legal fight against Apple by formally requesting a federal judge dismiss the iPhone maker’s trade secrets lawsuit, dismissing Apple’s claims as “meritless” and “rotten to its core.” In a motion filed yesterday, OpenAI argues that Apple mischaracterized both employee actions and product development information as stolen trade secrets, and failed to demonstrate reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy. The filing follows a Tuesday blog post where OpenAI labeled Apple’s legal action as “careless, aggressive, and oddly personal,” alleging poor investigation and selective use of communications.

The lawsuit, initiated by Apple in July, accuses former Apple employees—now at OpenAI—of downloading confidential files after leaving the company to support OpenAI’s hardware development. OpenAI counters that former Apple engineer Chang Liu was merely assisting ex-colleagues, and argues Apple is using the lawsuit to deflect from its own struggles with talent retention and AI integration. A judge will hear arguments on the dismissal motion on October 1st, while Apple separately seeks a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI and named employees from accessing alleged confidential data.