Odaily Planet Daily reports that in its response to Apple's trade secret lawsuit, OpenAI stated that Apple's own information security management and employee offboarding processes contain vulnerabilities, undermining its legal claims of "trade secret theft."
OpenAI’s latest submitted evidence shows that an Apple manager continued to log into the personal iCloud account of former Apple engineer Chang Liu after his departure, transferring files and still seeking technical advice on Apple projects from him. Apple’s complaint omits its own “difficult-to-explain information management failures,” including its failure to properly revoke system access after employee departure, leading to access confusion—yet Apple now characterizes these issues as theft of trade secrets.
In addition, OpenAI noted that Apple did not specify exactly which “trade secrets” were stolen, but instead broadly categorized them as components related to product development, manufacturing, testing, supplier relationships, and distribution channels. OpenAI stated that Apple’s true intent in filing the lawsuit is to restrict OpenAI’s development in the AI hardware space, rather than to protect actual trade secrets. “OpenAI has not used, needed, or sought Apple’s trade secrets; the company is building entirely new products that are fundamentally different from Apple’s.”
OpenAI stated that the company attracts Apple employees due to the appeal of its AI innovation direction and believes Apple should not use litigation to compensate for its shortcomings in talent competition and AI product development.
Apple previously filed a lawsuit in July, accusing OpenAI of obtaining hardware-related confidential information through former Apple employees who joined OpenAI. This week, Apple further requested the court to expedite evidence discovery, stating that internal investigations suggest additional former employees may have been involved in or aware of the alleged misappropriation. In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, OpenAI argued that Apple permitted employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work purposes and failed to promptly revoke access after their departure, raising questions about whether the information in question meets the legal standard for “trade secrets.” (TechCrunch)