OpenAI Fires Back at Apple, Posts Internal Chats
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- OpenAI published a public blog titled "apple is getting this wrong," disputing Apple's account of pre-lawsuit communications and rejecting claims that ex-Apple employees misused confidential information.
- OpenAI released iMessages and emails as evidence — including Apple employees continuing to text a former colleague — to counter trade-secret theft allegations.
- Apple escalated the fight by asking a judge for a preliminary injunction to bar OpenAI from using the alleged trade secrets while claiming additional ex-employees may have taken confidential data to the AI company.
- AppleInsider observed that OpenAI's blog post does not actually address the core IP theft claims, pointing to a gap between OpenAI's public defense and its legal defense.
- Wccftech reported that Apple lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names — a detail OpenAI cited to portray the suit as careless.
- Outlets including The Verge, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, Fortune, and 9to5Mac covered the dispute, with OpenAI characterizing the lawsuit as "careless, aggressive and oddly personal."
Why it matters: Apple's preliminary injunction request puts immediate court pressure on OpenAI to stop using disputed technology before the case is decided, while Apple's expanded allegations of additional ex-employees widened the scope of the legal fight — exposing the strategic risk of OpenAI's public-evidence approach, which critics say dodges the underlying IP claims.
