Apple has filed its response to OpenAI’s request to dismiss a lawsuit accusing two former employees, along with OpenAI and io Products, of stealing trade secrets. In its response, Apple refutes OpenAI's arguments, stating, "Simply put, the defendants have failed to address the shocking allegations that form the heart of the complaint."

OpenAI’s Position on Apple’s Lawsuit

According to 9to5mac, OpenAI recently filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it and io Products by Apple, along with Chang Liu and Tang Tan, for alleged trade secret theft. In its motion, OpenAI argues that Apple brought the suit "without conducting an adequate investigation" and provides its own account of events leading up to Apple's complaint.

OpenAI bases its response on three main arguments: Apple has not "established ownership of a protectable trade secret," it "has not alleged any theft that is reasonably supported by evidence," and it "has not alleged any continuing harm or damage."

The company also points out that Apple's own practices in managing information and terminating employees contributed to the problem, claiming that employees were encouraged to use personal iCloud accounts for work and that Apple did not properly cut off access to company data after they left.

How did Apple deal with the attempts of OpenAI?

While Apple's complaint revolves around specific individuals who obtained Apple's trade secrets in particular ways, it asserts that its original complaint "adequately identifies specific trade secrets that were misappropriated by the defendants," citing previous cases where courts found similar levels of detail sufficient to allow trade secret claims to proceed.

Apple says OpenAI’s claims that it did not make a reasonable effort to protect its trade secrets are also "unreliable," adding that OpenAI trivializes Apple's trade secrets as merely "relationships with suppliers," then questions whether all supplier relationships are "confidential."

The company further alleges that OpenAI has abused the mechanism for requesting the dismissal of the case in full, stating: "Defendants' arguments ignore the legal standard for a motion to dismiss and repeatedly rely on lawyers’ arguments or extrinsic evidence, make unreasonable assumptions about misconduct, and ask the court to draw inferences favorable to them. This is not how a motion to dismiss works. So long as Apple has provided “facts sufficient to state a claim that is reasonably conceivable,” defendants' disagreement with the core of the case is irrelevant."

In its response, Apple also addressed directly a significantly edited conversation published by OpenAI on its website, in which a former colleague who still works at Apple communicated with Chang Liu to clarify some information about Apple's projects.

While OpenAI argued that the conversation proved Apple's description of Liu accessing his account after leaving as theft was misleading, because Apple employees themselves asked him for help in retrieving information.