OpenAI rejects Apple’s injunction request in trade-secret dispute
Apple seeks to restrict OpenAI’s use of alleged confidential information and accelerate discovery; OpenAI says the request rests on false claims.
By Wei-Lin Zhao · AI Correspondent
· 3 min read
Apple has asked a federal judge to restrict OpenAI and two former Apple employees from accessing, acquiring, using or disclosing alleged confidential information, while seeking faster evidence gathering in its trade-secret case. In its OpenAI Apple lawsuit response, the ChatGPT maker said Apple’s injunction request relies on false information and is unnecessary because OpenAI says it neither has nor wants Apple trade secrets.
Apple’s new requests were reported August 4. OpenAI published its public rebuttal, including selected emails and redacted messages, on August 3. The two statements address the same dispute, but the supplied record does not establish a court ruling on either side’s factual account.
What is Apple asking the court to do against OpenAI?
According to Reuters and TechCrunch, Apple wants an order barring OpenAI and former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan from handling information Apple claims is confidential. Apple also seeks expedited discovery, including documents about the alleged handling of proprietary material and depositions of Liu, Tan, OpenAI employee Yu-Ting Peng, an unidentified former Apple employee, and corporate representatives of OpenAI and io Products.
Apple has argued that it will suffer irreparable harm without the requested restrictions. Its filing says the risk is that its alleged trade secrets could be used in products or operations that compete with Apple, according to Fortune’s account of the motion.
The case began July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The court docket lists Apple’s claims for trade-secret misappropriation and breach of contract against Liu, OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, Tan and io Products.
OpenAI releases selected correspondence
OpenAI used its post to contest two parts of Apple’s narrative. First, it said Apple’s outside lawyers initially emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names and that an alleged discussion with OpenAI’s general counsel did not occur. OpenAI also said Apple had not raised the lawsuit’s specific allegations in the earlier exchange. Those are OpenAI’s assertions, supported in the post by correspondence it selected for publication.
Second, OpenAI said Apple employees contacted Liu after he left Apple and asked for help finding files and information. The company published redacted iMessages that it says support that position. OpenAI also said Tan instructed his team not to use confidential information belonging to other companies.
Apple’s filing broadens its allegations beyond the named former employees. TechCrunch reported that Apple identified 11 additional former Apple employees who may be witnesses or otherwise involved. Apple alleges, among other things, that one former employee discussed proprietary information about unannounced products before Peng’s OpenAI interview, and that another took screenshots of confidential documents before an OpenAI interview. Those allegations have not been adjudicated.
For operators watching OpenAI’s hardware effort, the immediate issue is procedural: Apple is trying to obtain restrictions and evidence before the broader trade-secret claims are resolved. OpenAI’s post is a public defense, not a court filing or an independent validation of its account.
This story draws on original reporting from SiliconANGLE.
