OpenAI is pushing back hard in court against a major lawsuit filed by Apple. The artificial intelligence company recently submitted a fresh petition asking a judge to throw out the case entirely. This legal fight centers on accusations that former employees stole confidential data before leaving. Now, the software maker claims the severe accusations lack real proof and rely on basic guesswork rather than hard facts.
The startup claims the lawsuit lacks specific facts and proof
The core of this dispute started when the creator of the iPhone accused two former workers, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, of taking private data. The initial complaint also named Jony Ive’s design firm, io Products. The tech giant asked the court to step in quickly to stop anyone from using its allegedly stolen information. In response, the defense team pushed to dismiss the case right away.
The two sides have traded arguments for weeks. The smartphone maker claims its former staff took specific files and even showed new recruits how to dodge security checks. However, the opposing side says those actions have innocent explanations. For instance, the former workers say they only kept an offboarding document to help new hires follow security rules properly.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
The new brief outlines missing links in the legal argument
In a recent filing, the AI developer stated that the latest response from the accuser only proves the original complaint is broken. The legal team says the tech giant is asking the judge to guess what happened instead of showing clear evidence.
The fresh rebuttal highlights several key problems with the lawsuit:
- The complaint fails to point out what the actual trade secrets are.
- It does not show any reasonable steps taken to protect the data.
- The filing fails to prove that the former employees or the partner companies misused anything.
- There is no clear evidence of actual harm or financial injury.
- The accusations rely on wild guesses, like assuming a downloaded file before an interview means secret data was shared.
With this latest motion filed, both sides have laid out their primary arguments. The court has scheduled a hearing for October 1 to review the request to dismiss. If the judge agrees with the defense, the case could be thrown out with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be brought back to court later. This upcoming decision will set a strict boundary on how much proof tech companies need before accusing departing talent of stealing secrets.
Discussion