OpenAI replies to Apple: lawsuit based on misidentification and a meeting that never took place

Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that former employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan stole confidential information when they moved to OpenAI’s gadgets division. OpenAI’s official blog response does not try to hide the contempt: it says the legal letter Apple sent in February, which Apple claimed remained "without response", was simply sent to the wrong employee. Apple’s lawyers confused two employees with similar Asian surnames. The meeting with OpenAI’s general counsel that the complaint relies on never took place. After a brief exchange, Apple fell silent for half a year, then filed the lawsuit all at once.

Regarding the claim of unauthorized file access, OpenAI presents a different picture. One employee received access to materials after leaving, at the request of former colleagues who asked for help on a project. OpenAI attached the full correspondence that proves the request. For the second employee, Apple has no concrete evidence, and the employee himself denies the accusations after more than 20 years at Apple.

The response moves the ball to the discovery stage, where Apple will have to present solid evidence rather than a narrative of a lost letter and a meeting that never happened. If the issue is indeed a basic misidentification by the lawyers of one of the world’s biggest companies, the reputational damage to Apple could exceed the benefit of the lawsuit itself.