TechCrunch reports that OpenAI wants a judge to toss out Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit. Instead of denying that former Apple employees had access to sensitive files, OpenAI is pointing the finger back at Apple. 

The company says Apple’s own security habits are the real problem here. Back in July, Apple sued OpenAI. 

The company claimed OpenAI ran a scheme to steal secret hardware information. Apple said former engineers helped hand over confidential details after they left the company.

Then, just days ago, Apple asked the court to speed things up. It said its internal investigation found more former employees who may have taken part in the alleged theft, or at least seen it happen.

Now OpenAI has responded. 

Apple’s Security

OpenAI’s motion claims Apple let employees use personal iCloud accounts for work. Then, when those workers left, Apple failed to properly cut off their access.

If true, it means former employees could still reach company files long after their last day. OpenAI backed this up with evidence. 

It submitted text messages showing an Apple manager stayed logged into a former engineer’s personal iCloud account. That engineer, Chang Liu, is now a defendant in the case.

According to the filing, the manager used that access to move files. Later, the same manager reportedly asked Liu for help with technical questions about ongoing Apple projects.

Apple’s Mistakes

OpenAI argues Apple left out something important from its original lawsuit: the consequences of its own information practices.

In plain terms, OpenAI says Apple’s system for offboarding employees was messy. And that mess created confusion. Now, OpenAI argues, Apple wants to call that confusion “theft.”

If a company doesn’t lock down its own secrets, courts may be less likely to treat that information as legally protected.

Some might call it a “the door was unlocked, so it wasn’t stealing” defense. 

OpenAI wants to prove two things. First, that former Apple employees were just trying to help old coworkers, not steal secrets. 

Second, that if Apple never properly secured this information, it might not count as a real trade secret at all.

OpenAI also claims that Apple hasn’t been specific enough about what was actually stolen. Instead of naming exact trade secrets, OpenAI claims Apple only listed broad categories.

Things like component manufacturing, product testing, supplier relationships, and distribution channels.

That’s not the same as pointing to a specific formula, blueprint, or process, OpenAI argues. Courts typically expect more detail when a company claims its trade secrets were stolen.

OpenAI suggests Apple’s real goal isn’t protecting secrets at all. The company believes Apple is trying to slow down a competitor. 

And that competitor, OpenAI says, is moving ahead in AI hardware while Apple struggles to keep up.

In its filing, OpenAI says it has no interest in Apple’s trade secrets because it’s building something completely different.

What OpenAI does want, according to the motion, is talent. Skilled engineers, inventors, and developers who are choosing to leave Apple for OpenAI. 

Therefore, Apple shouldn’t be allowed to use a lawsuit as a workaround. Instead of fixing its own struggles with hiring and retaining talent, or catching up on AI integration, OpenAI claims Apple is using the courts to compete.