How an Email Mistake Reportedly Led Apple and OpenAI Toward Court

Apple’s discussions with OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft reportedly broke down after an outside lawyer representing Apple emailed the wrong OpenAI employee and confused two separate conversations.

The mistake came months before Apple filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI, io Products, and two former Apple employees of using confidential hardware information to support OpenAI’s consumer-device plans.

NBC News reports that Apple first contacted OpenAI in February and asked the company to investigate whether former Apple employees had shared confidential information. Apple later claimed in its lawsuit that OpenAI “never responded,” although emails reviewed by NBC News show that OpenAI did reply to the initial message.

Lawyer reportedly confused Wang and Chang

According to the report, Apple’s outside attorney Gabriel Gross emailed OpenAI general counsel Che Chang about former Apple employees retaining confidential information. Thirteen minutes later, Gross sent another message thanking Chang for a phone call and for offering quick cooperation.

However, Gross had actually spoken with another OpenAI employee whose surname was Wang. He then mistakenly sent the follow-up message to Chang.

“I don’t know who he is and we have never spoken,” Chang wrote after accusing Gross of “lying about speaking with me on the phone,” according to NBC News.

Gross later apologized for the mistake, while an Apple in-house lawyer told Chang that he could continue communicating with Gross and his firm. However, OpenAI says it has no record of further contact from Apple’s lawyers until the lawsuit was filed last Friday.

Apple’s complaint accuses former employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan of taking confidential hardware details to help advance OpenAI’s device plans. The new report adds fresh context to Apple’s claim that OpenAI ignored its concerns before the legal action began.