OpenAI asks judge to dismiss Apple suit

OpenAI asked a federal judge on August 6 to throw out Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit, escalating a fight that began in July over former Apple employees now working on OpenAI hardware efforts. In its motion, OpenAI said Apple’s allegations were “meritless” and accused the iPhone maker of filing a case built on selective excerpts and ordinary workplace conduct taken out of context. Apple’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI, io Products and two former Apple employees of misappropriating confidential hardware information. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the dismissal motion. ### What exactly did OpenAI ask the judge to do? OpenAI’s August 6 filing asked the court to dismiss Apple’s complaint for failing to state a viable trade-secrets claim. The company said Apple did not describe the alleged trade secrets with enough specificity and did not plausibly show that any defendant misappropriated protected information. (finance.yahoo.com) Lawyers for OpenAI wrote that “OpenAI has no use, need or desire for Apple’s trade secrets” and said the company was building something “entirely new and different from anything at Apple.” In a separate filing account, OpenAI called Apple’s complaint “rotten to its core” and said the suit was filed without adequate investigation. ### Who is named in Apple’s lawsuit? (finance.yahoo.com) Apple’s July complaint names OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, io Products LLC, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu as defendants. The case was filed in the Northern District of California’s San Jose division and alleges trade-secret misappropriation and breach of contract. Apple said in the complaint that the case concerns former employees “stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI.” The company alleged that confidential information tied to product development, manufacturing, supply chains and related hardware operations was taken or exploited as OpenAI expanded its consumer-device ambitions. (finance.yahoo.com) ### What is OpenAI’s defense to Apple’s allegations? (courthousenews.com) OpenAI argued that Apple’s own security and offboarding practices undercut its claim that the information at issue qualified as legally protected trade secrets. According to newly filed exhibits described by TechCrunch, OpenAI said Apple allowed employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work and did not properly revoke access after departures. (courthousenews.com) Text records cited in that report show an Apple manager remained logged into Chang Liu’s personal iCloud account after he left and later asked him for help with technical questions about Apple projects. OpenAI said Apple was now portraying conduct as theft that, in some instances, involved former employees trying to help former colleagues at Apple continue their work. (techcrunch.com) ### Why has this case drawn so much attention? Apple and OpenAI were already commercial partners before the lawsuit. OpenAI technology powers parts of Apple Intelligence and Siri, while Apple users can access ChatGPT through Siri and sign up for ChatGPT memberships from iOS settings, according to Reuters and Bloomberg’s account of the filing. (techcrunch.com) The dispute also reaches beyond software. Apple alleged that OpenAI was using recruiting, supplier relationships and former employees to accelerate consumer hardware work, while OpenAI said it was pursuing a different product path and simply hiring engineers who chose to leave Apple. Bloomberg’s account said tensions had worsened after OpenAI enlisted former Apple designer Jony Ive to help develop devices. (finance.yahoo.com) ### What happened just before this filing? Apple asked the judge on August 5 to order OpenAI to stop using what Apple says are stolen trade secrets and to return any confidential information, according to Bloomberg’s account. That request would remain in place while the broader lawsuit proceeds if the court grants it. The next steps now sit with the federal court in San Jose, where Apple’s request for immediate relief and OpenAI’s motion to dismiss will be considered as the case against OpenAI, io Products, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu moves forward. (finance.yahoo.com) (courthousenews.com) (insurancejournal.com)