OpenAI Publishes Internal Messages to Rebut Apple's Trade-Secret Suit

OpenAI published a post on August 3 titled "Apple is getting this wrong", disputing Apple's account of its hiring and releasing messages it says document what happened. The response follows the suit Apple filed in federal court in Northern California on July 10, which accuses OpenAI of trade-secret theft and alleges the scheme operated at every level of the company.

Apple's complaint names Tang Tan, who led iPhone and Apple Watch product design as vice president of product design, and Chang Liu, a senior system electrical engineer of eight years who joined OpenAI in January 2026. Apple alleges that OpenAI asked former employees, and prospective recruits it did not hire, to bring information about unreleased products. OpenAI said in July that it takes the allegations seriously but is not aware of evidence that the complaint has merit.

Neither side has produced a public evidentiary record that settles the factual question, and no court has ruled. What is established is the nature of the dispute. Apple, a major consumer hardware maker, is using trade-secret law against the lab building a competing device, and both parties are now arguing in public statements as well as in filings. OpenAI's decision to publish message excerpts is a reputational move rather than a legal one, and it raises the question of which messages were left out.