The lawsuit says the secrets covered things like parts production, testing, supplier relationships, and distribution.
Apple has now filed a request with the court to expedite discovery, which is the phase during which both parties are required to share evidence. Apple says its own internal probe suggests more ex-employees may have been involved in, or witnessed, the alleged taking.
Those are serious accusations. But OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss the case, and its response turns the spotlight back on Apple.
OpenAI's filing does not spend much time denying that data moved around. What stands out is what the defense does not say.
OpenAI is not claiming the transfers never happened. It is arguing something sharper: Apple's own security habits created the very confusion the lawsuit is now calling theft.
According to the filing, Apple permitted staff to handle work tasks on their own iCloud accounts while also neglecting to revoke system access once workers departed. Mix those two habits together and you have a recipe for mix-ups, which OpenAI says is exactly what happened.
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Text records show an Apple manager stayed signed into the iCloud account personally used by Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer and a defendant in the case. After Liu left, that manager kept transferring files through the account, and at one point asked Liu for technical help tied to Apple projects.
OpenAI says Apple's original complaint left that context out. The company argues that its confusing data-management practices and insecure offboarding created unwanted access, not a coordinated heist.
If managers were still using a departed engineer's account, it is hard to argue the information was a closely guarded secret. OpenAI says this shows former staff were helping old colleagues, not stealing secrets.
The legal test for a trade secret is whether the owner took reasonable steps to protect it. OpenAI argues Apple's own practices failed that test.
The filing also takes aim at how vague Apple's claims are. Apple never identified the actual secrets or confidential components it says were taken.
A trade secrets case usually requires showing what was secret and how it was protected, and OpenAI says Apple has not done that.
OpenAI says the real motive behind the lawsuit is competition. It claims Apple is trying to hold back a rival in AI hardware instead of focusing on its own product work.
The filing also says OpenAI does not want Apple's confidential data and is building something different. It accuses Apple of using a groundless suit to hide problems with keeping staff and adding AI to products.
These are two of the biggest names in the AI story, so the stakes go beyond the courtroom. If this lawsuit slows OpenAI's hardware work, it could change the pace of the entire race.
If it forces Apple to fix its security and rethink how it handles departing employees, that could reshape how quickly the company ships AI products.
The stakes for investors are real even though the technical details are dense. A long legal fight can slow product launches and change how aggressively these companies hire.
The AI boom has entered a phase where the courtroom matters as much as the lab. Companies are spending billions on talent and technology, and they are increasingly willing to sue over who gets to keep both.
For your portfolio, the question is not whether the drama is entertaining. It is which company can keep building while the lawyers circle, and neither side can afford to slow down.
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