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

ChainCatcher report: 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,” but then remained silent for five months until filing the lawsuit. Regarding the allegation that former Apple employee Chang Liu took confidential information, OpenAI presented iMessage records showing that after Liu’s 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 Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction “based on false information and entirely unnecessary.” Previously, in July, Apple sued OpenAI, alleging it poached Apple employees and used confidential information to develop AI products.