Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former employees on July 10, 2026, accusing them of trade secret theft, which OpenAI disputed. OpenAI has now responded in detail through a dedicated blog post, calling the lawsuit careless and unfounded, and laying out its own timeline of events with supporting emails and messages.
OpenAI Pushes Back on Apple's Actions with Receipts
Responding to Apple's lawsuit, OpenAI addressed Apple's claim that it had reached out in February 2026 and received no response. According to emails shared in OpenAI's post, Apple’s outside legal counsel had inadvertently emailed the wrong recipient after mixing up two Asian surnames back in February 2026.
Image Credit: OpenAI
Image Credit: OpenAI
The attorney also falsely stated he had spoken with OpenAI General Counsel Che Chang on the phone, which was a mixup that Apple later conceded was an error, as the lawyer had actually spoken with a former employee. OpenAI noted that Apple indicated at the time it was "resolving any issues" quietly, only to file a lawsuit five months later without any further discussion in between.
Apple had also accused Chang Liu, a former Apple employee, of improperly accessing confidential files after his exit in January 2026. But the iMessage exchanges included in OpenAI's post tell a different story, showing his former Apple colleagues actively reaching out to him after he'd left, asking for help locating files, transferring iCloud documents, and answering technical questions.
In one exchange, Liu even asked his former colleague to sign him out of his iCloud account once they were done, which they eventually did over a week later.
Image Credit: OpenAI
Image Credit: OpenAI
OpenAI argues that the former employee still had access to internal files because Apple's iCloud sharing would allow it. Therefore, OpenAI attributed any file access to Apple's offboarding oversights rather than misconduct.
On the separate allegation involving Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran, Apple accused him of using confidential project codenames during job interviews to pry into unannounced products. OpenAI countered that Tan had explicitly instructed his team to avoid using any third-party confidential information altogether.
Finally, OpenAI has denied any trade secret theft and labelled Apple's injunction unnecessary. They hoped that Apple would reach out first before taking any legal action and accused the firm of changing its narrative. More information about the Apple vs OpenAI lawsuit should be revealed as we get close to the court hearing, so stay tuned.
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