According to The Verge, OpenAI has asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, calling the allegations 'meritless' ahead of an October 1st hearing. Tom's Hardware reports OpenAI also published a blog post, 'Apple's getting this wrong,' calling the legal action 'sad.' Apple separately sought a preliminary injunction on Monday, per The Verge.
What did Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI allege, and what did it seek?
According to Tom's Hardware, Apple and OpenAI are "heading to court in a clash of two of the world's largest and most well-funded companies... squaring off over claims of theft of trade secrets." The Verge reports the lawsuit was filed by Apple in July, alleging that former Apple employees who went on to work for OpenAI stole confidential documents to further OpenAI's hardware development plans.
Per Tom's Hardware, Apple is asking the courts to block its former employees from revealing information to their new employer and to limit OpenAI's development of an AI device based on Apple technology.
How did OpenAI respond publicly to the lawsuit?
OpenAI's public response came in the form of a blog post titled "Apple's getting this wrong," as reported by Tom's Hardware. The post reportedly calls the legal action "sad," suggests Apple mixed up the names of Asian employees, and indicates OpenAI doesn't want Apple's trade secrets anyway, according to Tom's Hardware's account of the post's contents.
What specific legal arguments did OpenAI make in its motion to dismiss?
Beyond the blog post, OpenAI took formal legal action. The Verge reports that OpenAI asked a federal judge to toss out Apple's lawsuit, describing the allegations as "meritless" in the filing.
In the motion, OpenAI argues that Apple is mischaracterizing both the actions of its employees as theft and "generic" product development information as "trade secrets," adding that Apple made no reasonable efforts to maintain such secrecy, per The Verge.
The filing also addresses a named individual: OpenAI claims that Chang Liu, a former Apple staffer now working at OpenAI who is accused of downloading confidential files from Apple after leaving the company, was simply assisting former colleagues who had asked him for help, according to The Verge.
What motive did OpenAI attribute to Apple's lawsuit?
In the same dismissal filing, OpenAI directly challenged Apple's rationale for suing. The Verge quotes the filing stating: "Apple should not be permitted to use a baseless and pretextual lawsuit to make up for its shortcomings in the market for talent and retaining its employees, and its failures to integrate AI into its products."
What is the current legal timeline, and what additional restrictions is Apple seeking?
According to The Verge, the judge is set to hear arguments on OpenAI's dismissal motion on October 1st. Separately, Apple also asked for a preliminary injunction on Monday to prevent OpenAI and the employees named in the complaint from accessing, acquiring, using, or disclosing the alleged confidential information while the lawsuit moves ahead, The Verge reports.
What this means
The record shows OpenAI running two parallel tracks in response to Apple's July lawsuit: a public-facing blog post (per Tom's Hardware) calling the action "sad" and disputing Apple's account of employee names, alongside a formal court filing (per The Verge) that goes further, labeling the claims "meritless" and "pretextual" and tying the suit to Apple's stated "failures to integrate AI into its products." At the same time, Apple is not standing pat — while OpenAI seeks dismissal, Apple moved on Monday for a preliminary injunction covering the same alleged confidential information, meaning both the request to end the case and a request to restrict OpenAI's conduct during the case are now before the court ahead of the October 1st hearing.