OpenAI has pushed back more directly against Apple’s trade-secret lawsuit, saying it is not aware of evidence that the complaint has merit.
In a statement provided to Bloomberg, OpenAI said it takes the allegations seriously. The company also defended fair competition and employees’ freedom to work wherever they choose.
That is firmer than OpenAI’s first response on July 10, when spokesperson Drew Pusateri said only that the company had no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.
OpenAI is framing the dispute around employee mobility
Apple’s 41-page complaint says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. However, Apple does not accuse all of them of misconduct.
The case focuses on more specific allegations involving OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu. Apple claims OpenAI interviewers asked employees to discuss confidential projects and bring prototypes, design materials, or components to interviews. It also alleges Liu kept an Apple-issued computer and downloaded confidential hardware files after leaving the company.
OpenAI’s reference to job freedom suggests it may present the dispute as a fight over talent moving between competitors. Apple’s case makes a narrower argument: employees can change jobs, but its confidential information allegedly moved with some of them. Those claims have not been tested in court.
OpenAI’s earlier recruitment of Apple hardware specialists gives that disagreement extra weight. The company’s consumer-device push relies heavily on former Apple talent, including Jony Ive’s design team.
The new statement does not change the case yet
OpenAI’s statement is a public response, not a ruling on the evidence. It does not address each allegation in Apple’s complaint or explain the specific files, devices, and interview practices Apple describes.
Apple is seeking damages and an order preventing OpenAI from possessing, using, or disclosing the disputed information. No judge has granted that relief. A future injunction could force OpenAI to separate contested material from its development work, adding pressure to its consumer hardware plans.
For now, nothing in the new statement changes OpenAI’s product schedule or the ChatGPT integration on Apple devices. Apple’s filing says that the commercial agreement is separate from the trade-secret lawsuit.
The next meaningful development will come when OpenAI answers the allegations in court, or Apple asks a judge for preliminary relief.
