OpenAI has sought dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Apple alleging that former Apple employees stole trade secrets to benefit the AI company’s hardware development efforts. The motion, submitted to federal court, characterizes Apple’s claims as lacking merit and argues that the company has misrepresented both the conduct of OpenAI’s workers and ordinary product development information as proprietary trade secrets. OpenAI further contends that Apple failed to take reasonable measures to protect the information in question.
The lawsuit, initiated in July, named several former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, including Chang Liu, who allegedly downloaded confidential documents after departing Apple. In its dismissal request, OpenAI suggests that Liu was simply providing assistance to former colleagues who requested his help, rather than engaging in theft. The company also released a public blog post earlier in the week criticizing Apple’s legal action as careless and overly aggressive.
OpenAI’s formal legal filing echoes themes from the blog post, asserting that Apple’s investigation was inadequate and relies on selectively presented communications. The company argues that Apple is using litigation to offset competitive disadvantages in recruiting and retaining engineering talent rather than pursuing a legitimate intellectual property claim. OpenAI emphasized its focus on developing distinct technology and its legitimate interest in hiring skilled professionals from the broader industry.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the dismissal motion on October 1st. Separately, Apple requested a preliminary injunction on Monday seeking to restrict OpenAI and the named employees from accessing, obtaining, using, or revealing the alleged confidential information during the litigation process.
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