OpenAI Responds to Apple Lawsuit Allegations About Former Employees

Overview of the Dispute

OpenAI states that Apple’s lawsuit rests on mistaken contacts and unsubstantiated claims. The company says Apple’s outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names, only after OpenAI pointed out the error. Apple also claimed a discussion with OpenAI’s General Counsel that never happened and said they were “resolving any issues” before waiting five months to file the suit.

Apple’s Allegations and OpenAI’s Rebuttal

OpenAI denies that it possesses or wants any Apple trade secrets and says the alleged misconduct never occurred. According to OpenAI, Apple accuses former employee Chang Liu of accessing confidential information after leaving, but Apple employees had asked Liu for help locating files. OpenAI also says Tang Tan, who served Apple for over 24 years, has always been clear that he does not want or use confidential information from other companies.

Evidence Presented by OpenAI

OpenAI shares iMessage logs and email exchanges to show that Apple employees asked Chang Liu for help and that counsel mis‑addressed emails. The iMessage conversation includes Liu saying, “I found a 64GB drive. Do you think that will work>” while coordinating with an Apple employee to copy data. The email exchange described in the post shows Apple’s outside counsel emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names, later acknowledging the mistake and noting they were “resolving any issues.”

Public Reaction on Hacker News

Commenters criticized the post as unprofessional, questioned the relevance of the Asian last names note, and debated the iCloud usage. One user wrote, “Is it normal for a company this big to make a public blog post like this with almost no introduction to what they’re on about? … reads like the diary of a hurt teenager.” Another noted, “They now admit that their outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names—only after we brought this to their attention. I find it bizarre that they felt the need to specify 'Asian'. What does that have to do with anything?” A third remarked, “When I look at the imessage conversation, one thing strikes me: that guy looks to be using the same icloud account he used when working for Apple with OpenAI. Is he using his own personal account? Why do both Apple and OpenAI allow that in the first place?” A fourth commented, “My favorite thing about this is in 2026 it's still a major hurdle to move 200GB around.”

Implications and OpenAI’s Stance

OpenAI says it prefers to resolve the matter privately and focuses on innovation, while the public filing may affect perceptions. The post concludes, “We wish Apple had raised these issues with us before they filed their lawsuit and would have been happy to clarify all of this with them. We have taken the allegations in the lawsuit seriously and offered to work with Apple to resolve this. Instead, they’re trying to change their narrative, including by making vague accusations about other former employees, and will likely keep repeating this tactic.”