Openai Also Said Apple Conceded That Its Employees Reached Out to Former Engineer Chang Liu, Not the Other Way Around

OpenAI pushed back against Apple's trade-secret lawsuit, saying the iPhone maker's lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names. In a Tuesday blog post, OpenAI called Apple's July complaint careless, aggressive and oddly personal. Apple sued OpenAI last month, alleging a former employee exploited an authentication bug and that OpenAI asked Apple engineers to bring proprietary hardware to job interviews.

OpenAI denied the claims and shared email correspondence showing Apple's outside counsel mistakenly sent a follow-up to OpenAI's general counsel instead of a former Apple employee. OpenAI also said Apple conceded that its employees reached out to former engineer Chang Liu, not the other way around. The messages show Apple colleagues asking Liu for help locating files and answering technical questions after his January 22 departure.

OpenAI said the issue stems from Apple's failure to manage system access for departing employees. The dispute marks an escalation in the once-close relationship between the two companies, which frayed after OpenAI hired former Apple design chief Jony Ive.