OpenAI Responds to Apple Lawsuit, Calls It 'Careless and Aggressive'

Huo Xing Finance reports that on August 3, OpenAI issued a public statement formally responding to Apple’s prior lawsuit. OpenAI described Apple’s lawsuit as “careless, aggressive, and personal,” highlighting multiple factual inaccuracies: Apple’s external counsel mistakenly sent an email intended for another party to OpenAI’s legal head, falsely claiming the two companies had spoken by phone; Apple later admitted this was due to “confusing two Asian surnames.” OpenAI also disclosed that after initial contact in February, Apple stated it was “resolving any issues,” yet remained silent for five months before filing the lawsuit. Regarding the allegation that former Apple employee Chang Liu took confidential information, OpenAI presented iMessage records showing that after his departure, Apple colleagues proactively reached out to him requesting assistance locating files, acknowledging this as a common issue resulting from Apple’s poor management of post-employment access permissions. Another named executive, Tang Tan, who worked at Apple for over 24 years, is cited by OpenAI as having consistently instructed his team to “never use any confidential information from other companies.” OpenAI stated it proactively offered to cooperate in resolving the matter, but Apple chose to file suit, calling its requested preliminary injunction “based on false information and entirely unnecessary.” Previously, in July, Apple sued OpenAI, accusing it of poaching Apple employees and using confidential information to develop AI products.