OpenAI Asks Federal Court to Dismiss Apple Trade Secrets Lawsuit

OpenAI filed a 31-page motion in a U.S. federal court asking a judge to dismiss the trade secrets lawsuit filed against it by Apple. The legal filing describes Apple’s complaint as baseless and pretextual, arguing that OpenAI has no use, need, or desire for Apple trade secrets as it builds its own consumer hardware products. Apple initially filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint named OpenAI, hardware firm io Products, and two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, accusing them of systematically obtaining and exploiting Apple confidential information regarding hardware and devices. Apple subsequently filed for a preliminary injunction to seek forensic inspections and restrictions. In its dismissal motion, OpenAI’s legal team asserted that Apple failed to sufficiently describe the information claimed as trade secrets, utilizing generalized product development categories rather than specific technical definitions. OpenAI further argued that Apple's internal security policies, which permitted employees to utilize personal iCloud accounts for work tasks and mixed personal and corporate data, created the conditions that Apple now characterizes as theft. The filing contends that Apple is utilizing the litigation to compensate for its own internal retention challenges and difficulties integrating artificial intelligence into its consumer products. OpenAI stated that the lawsuit constitutes an attempt to recover ground lost in the competitive market for technological talent and AI development. Despite the ongoing litigation, the commercial partnership linking OpenAI and Apple—which allows iOS users to access ChatGPT capabilities through Siri and settings menus—remains active. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila has scheduled a combined hearing for October 1 to evaluate both the motion to dismiss and Apple's request for a preliminary injunction. Responses from Apple are mandated by August 19.