OpenAI Seeks to Dismiss Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit

OpenAI filed a 31-page motion on August 6 asking a federal judge to dismiss the trade secrets lawsuit AAPL brought against it in July. Apple filed the case on July 10 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, naming OpenAI and Chang Liu, a former Apple senior systems electrical engineer of eight years who allegedly retained an Apple laptop and downloaded confidential documents after joining OpenAI.

Apple's complaint reaches beyond the individual. It alleges that OpenAI's chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, used Apple internal project code names while recruiting, asked candidates to bring Apple hardware components to interviews, and coached departing Apple staff on evading security procedures. Apple notes that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.

OpenAI's motion argues that Apple failed to identify any protectable trade secret with the required specificity, describing the material at issue as generic categories such as component manufacturing, testing and vendor relationships rather than defined secrets. It further argues that Apple's own security practices, including personal iCloud use and weak offboarding, undercut the claim that the information was adequately protected. The filing frames the suit as competitive rather than legal, stating Apple should not be permitted to use a lawsuit to compensate for its shortcomings in the market for talent and its failures to integrate AI into its products.

The near-term calendar is what matters for investors. Apple also sought a preliminary injunction, with OpenAI's response due August 17 and a hearing set for October 1 in San Jose. An injunction that restricted OpenAI's hardware hiring or development would be the materially consequential outcome; a motion to dismiss, granted or denied, mostly sets the pleading standard for what follows.