OpenAI has characterized Apple's lawsuit, which accuses the company of stealing trade secrets by hiring former Apple employees, as "baseless" and "a mess of Apple's own making." In a legal filing submitted late Monday in the Northern District of California, the AI company contended that Apple's suit is an attempt to impede its ability to recruit new employees and to slow its advancement in the consumer device market.
OpenAI stated that many of the allegations made by Apple stem from its own "bizarre offboarding process" for departing workers. The firm argued that there is nothing unlawful about Apple employees choosing to move to OpenAI for new job opportunities. "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's filing reads. "It blames employers who interview Apple employees for asking questions – even though those unremarkable questions are standard in tech and every other industry."
Apple filed its lawsuit in July, alleging that OpenAI coordinated the theft of product designs, manufacturing processes, and supply chain strategies. The suit specifically named Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a 24-year veteran of Apple, and Chang Liu, another former Apple employee on OpenAI's technical team.
OpenAI countered that Tan only transferred non-confidential documents to his personal email, along with personal communications and an exiting employee checklist. Regarding Apple's claim that Tan encouraged candidates to bring device parts to interviews, OpenAI stated that any components brought were from publicly available older products, a common practice in engineering interviews. In Liu's case, OpenAI alleged that Apple staffers contacted him after his departure seeking assistance with files, which he provided, characterizing this as an example of Apple's own "dysfunctional offboarding process."
OpenAI suggested that Apple's challenges in retaining employees are due to the company's perceived struggles with AI adoption. "Apple cannot stop the next 400 employees from leaving by filing baseless lawsuits," OpenAI asserted. "Employees have choices. They can leave a company like Apple that has struggled to adopt AI and move to an exciting startup that builds innovative products. Apple may not like those choices. But it cannot claim those choices are unlawful, and it cannot use its own sloppy procedures to blame others for its own mess."
In a separate filing, Apple requested expedited discovery, alleging that Liu recently surrendered a MacBook containing confidential Apple information and instructions to an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence.
The legal dispute arises amidst a broader context of technological competition. Apple announced a partnership in June where its new Siri would be powered by Google's Gemini, while OpenAI has emerged as a potential competitor with plans for its own consumer devices, aiming to challenge Apple's market position.
OpenAI acquired io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, last year. Tan had left Apple to join Ive's startup before the merger with OpenAI. OpenAI indicated in its legal filing that its upcoming hardware device is a "new type of consumer device that differs materially from known Apple products."