OpenAI fires back at Apple’s trade-secret lawsuit with personal open letter

OpenAI responded to Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction by publishing an open letter that challenges the legal basis of the suit. The letter claims Apple’s outside counsel mistakenly emailed the wrong individual due to similar Asian surnames and fabricated a phone conversation with OpenAI general counsel Che Chang, both of which Apple later acknowledged. Apple’s motion asks a judge to prevent OpenAI, former Apple product design vice president Tang Yew Tan, former senior systems electrical engineer Chang Liu, and additional former Apple staff now at OpenAI from accessing or using Apple’s confidential information.

OpenAI attached redacted iMessages showing Apple employees repeatedly asking Liu for files after his last day, describing the situation as lingering access rather than intentional theft. The filing also targets io Products, the Jony Ive-founded studio acquired by OpenAI, and seeks expedited discovery of documents and depositions. The legal clash follows a 2024 partnership that placed ChatGPT into Siri, which Apple later abandoned in favor of Google’s Gemini, and comes as OpenAI prepares to launch its own hardware devices.