OpenAI has pushed back sharply against Apple’s lawsuit accusing its former employees of misusing confidential information, publishing a lengthy rebuttal on its website alongside internal messages and email correspondence that it says undercut Apple’s version of events. The post, titled ‘Apple is getting this wrong’, accuses the iPhone maker of mishandling the dispute and mischaracterising its own outreach to OpenAI.
OpenAI vs Apple: A dispute over timing and communication
According to the post, Apple had claimed it first contacted OpenAI in February and received no response, a claim OpenAI says Apple later withdrew after admitting its outside lawyers had emailed the wrong person due to a mix up between two Asian surnames. OpenAI further states that Apple claimed to have discussed the matter with OpenAI’s General Counsel, a conversation OpenAI says never took place. The company adds that even after this contact, Apple never raised the specific allegations that eventually formed the basis of its lawsuit, and instead indicated it was resolving matters internally, before going silent for five months and then filing suit without further warning. The blog post addresses two individuals named in Apple’s filing. OpenAI says Apple has accused former employee Chang Liu of accessing confidential company information after his departure, but contends that Apple’s own staff had reached out to Liu asking for help locating files, a claim OpenAI says Apple now attributes to residual system access rather than any wrongdoing on Liu’s part. OpenAI argues this points to a broader pattern of Apple failing to properly revoke system access for departing employees, leaving former staff with lingering access to files they neither sought nor were aware of. On the second individual named, Tang Tan, OpenAI describes him as a 24-year veteran of Apple who was regarded as one of the company’s more innovative leaders, and states that he has consistently told his OpenAI team not to use or retain any confidential information from other companies.
OpenAI vs Apple: Messages shared as evidence
To support its account, OpenAI has published a set of iMessage exchanges it says took place between Chang Liu and Apple employees around the time of his departure in January 2026, extending into March. The messages, with some names and Apple-specific information redacted, appear to show Apple staff asking Liu for help locating files and technical details after he had already left the company, including references to transferring data and recalling details of unreleased product plans. OpenAI says the exchanges show Apple employees initiating contact with Liu rather than the reverse. OpenAI has also released a chain of email correspondence between Apple’s outside counsel, Gabriel Gross of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, OpenAI’s General Counsel Che Chang, and Apple’s in-house legal team. The emails, dated between February 23 and February 25, 2026, appear to show Gross mistakenly sending a message intended for a different recipient to Che Chang and claiming to have spoken with him by phone, an error Gross later acknowledged. OpenAI says this miscommunication was confirmed by Apple’s own in-house counsel, and that no further contact followed until Apple filed its lawsuit five months later. To read the chats and emails, head here. OpenAI states in the post that it takes the allegations seriously and had offered to work with Apple to resolve the matter before litigation, but says Apple has instead shifted its narrative and made vague accusations against other former employees. The company also disputes Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction, saying it does not possess or want any of Apple’s trade secrets and is focused instead on its own product development.
