Apple's Lawsuit Might Be Full of Mistakes? OpenAI Publishes Its Full Rebuttal!

Hey everyone, it's Shiichan! Today I've got a bit of a different kind of story — OpenAI just published an official rebuttal to a lawsuit Apple filed against it.

OpenAI News openai.com

What was announced?

OpenAI News published a response to a lawsuit Apple filed, bluntly titled "Apple is getting this wrong." Apple's suit accuses OpenAI, and some former Apple employees, of misusing Apple's trade secrets. In its rebuttal, OpenAI says several claims in Apple's complaint don't match the facts, and backs that up by publishing actual emails and iMessage threads as evidence.

Why it matters

A number of former Apple executives and engineers have moved to OpenAI recently, and tension between the two companies over talent and technology has been building. This lawsuit grew out of suspicion that a former Apple employee walked off with confidential information that ended up being used at OpenAI. It's a notable example of the ongoing talent war among big tech companies escalating into an actual courtroom fight.

What changes

In the post, OpenAI directly disputes several claims in Apple's complaint.

• Apple said it reached out to OpenAI in February and got no response, but it turns out Apple's outside counsel emailed the wrong person after confusing two similar Asian surnames
• Apple also claimed it had a conversation with OpenAI's General Counsel, something Apple itself now admits never actually happened
• Apple accused former employee Chang Liu of accessing Apple's confidential files after leaving, but messages OpenAI published show it was current Apple employees who asked him for help locating that information
• Regarding Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran, OpenAI says he has always made clear to the team that using confidential information from other companies is off-limits

On top of that, OpenAI argues that Apple's request for a preliminary injunction is "based on false information and completely unnecessary," and is asking that it be rejected.

Dive Deep

Here's how the timeline breaks down, according to OpenAI.

• Around February 2026, Apple's outside counsel tried to contact OpenAI but sent the email to the wrong person
• Apple later claimed it had spoken with OpenAI's General Counsel, but Apple itself now admits that conversation never took place
• Apple then said only that it was "resolving any issues," and went quiet for five months
• Five months later, Apple filed the lawsuit without further warning

Chang Liu's last day at Apple was January 22, 2026. The iMessage threads OpenAI published show that, starting that same day, his former Apple colleagues repeatedly asked him to help locate files and offered to AirDrop things over. Apple frames this as a "residual access" issue, but OpenAI points out that this is a recurring problem at Apple caused by not properly managing system access when employees leave, meaning departing employees can end up with lingering access to files they never wanted or even knew about.

OpenAI closes the post by saying it doesn't have, and doesn't want, any of Apple's trade secrets, and that it would rather focus on building innovative products and technology that push the frontier.

Wrap-up

• OpenAI published an official rebuttal to Apple's trade-secret lawsuit
• It disputes multiple claims in Apple's complaint, backing that up with actual emails and iMessage threads
• The Chang Liu access issue traces back to current Apple employees asking for his help, not Chang seeking out the information himself
• Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran, is said to have always been clear about not using other companies' confidential information
• OpenAI calls Apple's request for a preliminary injunction "based on false information and completely unnecessary"

If you're following the AI industry's talent wars, or where this legal battle between two tech giants is headed, this one's worth a read.