On Friday tech giant Apple Inc. sued OpenAI, accusing the owner of the artificial-intelligence chatbot ChatGPT of stealing trade secrets. The allegations are explosive. Yet, so far OpenAI’s public response has been underwhelming. The accused is going to have to reply more forthrightly to defend its reputation.

The lawsuit filed in San Jose, California, federal court on July 10 alleges OpenAI stole trade secrets to aid its effort to build hardware products, including, reportedly, an AI-based phone to compete with Apple’s iPhone. OpenAI has engaged in this nefarious behavior through former Apple employees it’s hired (two are named as defendants) and through other methods, according to the complaint.

“At every level, from members of its technical staff to its chief hardware officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,” Apple writes in the court filing. “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” (The “rotten to its core” bit from Apple is getting a lot of notice in the news stories.)

‘Innovative Technology’

For its part, OpenAI’s response has been tepid. Spokesman Drew Pusateri put out a two-sentence statement on X the day the suit was filed: “Our statement in response to this suit: We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

On July 14 — four days after the filing — Bloomberg reporter Ed Ludlow posted a new statement from the company on X in which it said, “While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit.”

These are not exactly stemwinders. This may be one of those situations in which the company has decided (via its lawyers?) to fight only in the courtroom. But Apple’s suit is an attack on OpenAI’s ethics, integrity, way of doing business and reputation. Surely, it must have some defense for the court of public opinion. It must counter the accusations point by point. Some reporting suggests Apple may be simply trying to compel discovery to harm OpenAI’s devices ambitions. If so, the AI firm should argue that.

Still, the suit seems serious. Consider some of its more disturbing allegations.

After eight years at Apple, engineer Chang Liu left to join OpenAI in January 2026. He didn’t return his work computer, used a former Apple colleague’s work computer and downloaded many device-related files, according to the complaint. He also exploited a bug to access Apple’s shared network files, according to the complaint. (The bug, which Apple said it fixed, has also gotten a lot of press attention.)

‘Show and Tell’

Tang Yew Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, stole documents and encouraged Apple employees who were candidates for OpenAI jobs to bring “actual parts” from Apple to their interviews for “show and tell,” according to the complaint.

Liu and Tan are named defendants in the lawsuit. Over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, according to the complaint, which is another surprising revelation. Last year, OpenAI acquired io Products Inc., a company founded by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, Tan and others to create AI-based hardware products.

But it’s not just the former employees. Apple claims the trade-secret theft is “normalized and exemplified by leadership” at OpenAI. That’s a serious accusation that needs to be addressed.

Image Credit: Timon – stock.adobe.com

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