OpenAI Publishes Apple's Internal Messages in Trade-Secret Fight

OpenAI has published what it says is Apple's own email and iMessage correspondence, arguing that Apple's trade-secret lawsuit against it rests on false claims and a misdirected legal letter. In a post titled "Apple is getting this wrong," OpenAI lays out its fullest public defense yet and links directly to court filings: a Motion to Dismiss filed August 6, 2026, an opposition to Apple's preliminary injunction request filed September 1, 2026, and a response to Apple's supplemental brief filed September 14, 2026.

The dispute matters beyond the two companies. Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction against OpenAI — an extraordinary remedy that could constrain OpenAI's hiring and product work while the case proceeds — and the fight tests how aggressively big tech firms will litigate talent moves into AI companies. Apple accuses two former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, of taking and using confidential information after joining OpenAI.

What does the misdirected email show?

OpenAI says Apple's claim that it tried to resolve the matter before suing collapsed under scrutiny. Apple had claimed it contacted OpenAI in February 2026 and received no response. OpenAI says Apple's outside counsel, Weil Gotshal & Manges partner Gabriel Gross, emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names — an error Apple now admits, according to OpenAI, only after OpenAI brought it to light.

The published emails show the sequence. On Monday, February 23, 2026, at 5:53 PM, Gross sent a letter addressed "Dear Mr. Chang" with the subject line "Former Apple Employees at OpenAI Retaining Non-public, Confidential, and Proprietary Information." Thirteen minutes later, at 6:06 PM, Gross sent a follow-up: "Thank you for your phone call just now and for offering your cooperation so quickly."

OpenAI's General Counsel Che Chang had made no such call. At 8:04 PM that day, he wrote directly to Apple's in-house legal counsel: "This guy from Weil claims to be representing you. For some reason, he is lying about speaking with me on the phone. I don't know who he is and we have never spoken."

On February 24, Gross conceded the error in an email. He wrote that a second message, intended for a former Apple employee surnamed Wang, had been "accidentally" sent to the wrong chain, and that Wang "promptly called me and offered to cooperate with Apple in resolving any issues." Apple's in-house counsel confirmed on February 25 that Weil represented Apple on the matter.

OpenAI says two things about this exchange matter. First, Apple also claimed it had a discussion with OpenAI's General Counsel — a claim OpenAI says Apple "now concede[s] never happened." Second, OpenAI says Apple never raised the specific allegations that appear in the lawsuit, and that Gross's own words — "resolving any issues" — described the state of play. OpenAI then heard nothing for five months, until Apple filed suit.

What do the Chang Liu messages contain?

Apple accuses Chang Liu, whose last day at Apple was January 22, 2026, of accessing Apple confidential information after leaving the company. OpenAI's response: Apple's own employees asked him to help.

The published iMessages, redacted by OpenAI, show Apple staff coordinating with Liu around his departure date to retrieve files from his laptop and iCloud account. On January 22, 2026, Liu writes that he found "a 64GB drive" for a file transfer. On January 23, he writes: "My plan is to complete the airdrop and then click the sad button in workday." The same day, an Apple employee replies: "If you have time you can also try to airdrop all other file in my apple iCloud folder."

The messages show the Apple employee actively working through Liu's files. On January 31, 2026, that employee writes: "I just signed out of your iCloud account. When it asked me if I wanted to keep a copy of your stuff, I said NO."

The correspondence continues after Liu departs. On February 14, 2026, an Apple employee writes: "Just in case you don't have enough work, I need some help. I have a vague recollection of you talking about a [Redacted - Apple Information]. Can you give me a brief refresh of this and point me to an EE who may have some knowledge?" Liu responds with a description and notes that "the people is also in my court now." On March 5, 2026, an Apple employee again asks Liu about internal power architecture, and Liu points them to internal folders and colleagues — before one recipient writes, "Hi, this is highly irregular, please remove me from this thread."

OpenAI argues Apple now attributes Liu's continued file access to "residual access" — but, OpenAI says, Apple doesn't disclose that this is "a common issue with Apple which is caused by them failing to properly manage system access when people leave." OpenAI's framing: former employees trying to do the right thing still have access to Apple files, without wanting them or even being aware of them.

What about Tang Tan?

Apple accuses Tang Tan of trying to obtain and use its trade secrets. OpenAI says Tan "has always been clear with the team that we do not want, and must not use, any confidential information from other companies." Tan spent more than 24 years at Apple, OpenAI notes, and was "widely known as one of the most innovative leaders at the company." OpenAI offers no further documentary detail on Tan in the post.

Why is OpenAI publishing all of this now?

OpenAI says it would have preferred a phone call. "We wish Apple had raised these issues with us before they filed their lawsuit and would have been happy to clarify all of this with them," the company writes. "We have taken the allegations in the lawsuit seriously and offered to work with Apple to resolve this."

Instead, OpenAI argues, Apple is "trying to change their narrative, including by making vague accusations about other former employees, and will likely keep repeating this tactic." OpenAI's bottom line on the injunction: "Apple's request for a preliminary injunction is both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets. We're much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier."

The post opens with a jab at Apple's brand: "Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details. This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn't live up to that reputation."

What happens next in court?

The litigation now turns on three filings OpenAI has made public: the August 6, 2026 Motion to Dismiss, the September 1, 2026 opposition to Apple's preliminary injunction motion, and the September 14, 2026 response to Apple's supplemental brief, all docketed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (case 3:26-cv-474095).

Apple's injunction motion is the immediate decision point. If the court credits OpenAI's account — that Apple's counsel contacted the wrong person, misdescribed a phone call that never happened, never raised the specific allegations before suing, and that its own employees solicited Liu's help — the injunction faces a steep bar, since OpenAI argues Apple cannot show misuse of secrets it says OpenAI never possessed. If Apple prevails, the case becomes a test of how far trade-secret law can reach into the AI industry's aggressive hiring of hardware and engineering talent.