OpenAI calls Apple's trade secrets suit 'rotten to its core' in new filing

OpenAI is asking a federal judge to throw out Apple’s July lawsuit that accuses the ChatGPT maker of poaching employees and stealing trade secrets for its hardware plans. In a dismissal motion filed yesterday, OpenAI didn’t mince words, calling the case “rotten to its core” and the allegations “meritless.”

The core of Apple’s complaint centers on former staffers, like Chang Liu, who allegedly downloaded confidential files after leaving the company. OpenAI’s rebuttal paints a different picture — it says Liu was simply helping former colleagues who asked for assistance, and that the supposedly stolen information is just “generic” product development material, not legally protected trade secrets. OpenAI argues Apple made no reasonable effort to actually keep this stuff secret.

This legal brawl spilled into public view earlier this week when OpenAI published a blog post titled “Apple is getting this wrong,” slamming the lawsuit as “careless, aggressive, and oddly personal.” The formal dismissal filing amplifies that tone, accusing Apple of building a case on selective, out-of-context communications. The filing goes so far as to frame the entire dispute as a symptom of Apple’s own failures: an inability to retain talent or integrate AI into its products, now weaponized through litigation.

It’s a move that highlights how desperate the AI talent war has become. We’ve seen splashy hires and sky-high compensation packages, but a tech giant suing a leading AI lab over employee moves is a new level of escalation. The judge gets to hear arguments on October 1st. That same week, Apple also filed for a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI and the named employees from accessing any disputed info — so the fight is only heating up.