Apple’s legal battle with OpenAI has entered a new phase after the AI company issued a stronger response to the lawsuit accusing it of trade secret theft. OpenAI said it takes Apple’s allegations seriously, but added that it is not aware of any evidence showing the complaint has merit.
The latest statement comes just days after Apple claimed OpenAI and several former Apple employees used confidential hardware information to support the company’s growing consumer device ambitions.
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI expanded on its earlier response, which had focused on the company’s commitment to developing its own technology rather than relying on information from competitors.
OpenAI says Apple’s complaint lacks supporting evidence
In its latest statement, OpenAI said:
“While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit. We believe in fair competition and allowing people the freedom to work wherever they choose, and we’re focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
The company repeated its position that it supports fair competition and employee mobility while continuing to build its own products. OpenAI’s earlier public response also said it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”
Apple’s lawsuit paints a very different picture. The company claims OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, who previously led iPhone design efforts, encouraged Apple employees to bring hardware-related components to job interviews. Apple also alleges OpenAI created a hiring process that helped employees avoid the company’s security procedures during recruitment.
Apple further claims that a former iPhone engineer who joined OpenAI earlier this year accessed internal systems and copied engineering presentations along with other confidential materials before leaving the company. The lawsuit describes OpenAI’s hardware division as being “rotten to its core” and argues that the company built its hardware efforts using Apple’s proprietary information.
The lawsuit remains in its early stages, and neither Apple’s allegations nor OpenAI’s defense have been tested in court. More developments are expected as the legal proceedings continue.
