Author: OpenAI

Translation: Shenchao TechFlow

Shenchao Guide: Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets, but emails released by OpenAI show that Apple’s lawyer confused Asian surnames, sent emails to the wrong person, falsely claimed to have spoken by phone, and an ex-employee who was actively asked by Apple to help find documents was instead accused of theft. This lawsuit exposes not only factual errors but also the misconduct of a top tech company under competitive pressure.

Apple's Triple Factual Error

Apple was once one of the greatest companies in history, known for its extreme attention to detail. However, this careless, aggressive, and excessively personal lawsuit does not live up to that reputation.

Apple claims they contacted OpenAI in February but received no response. The truth is, their external lawyer confused two Asian surnames and emailed the wrong person—this was only acknowledged after we pointed it out. Apple also claimed they spoke with our General Counsel, and now they admit that never happened. But what they continue to conceal is that they never mentioned the specific allegations in the lawsuit at the time; instead, they told us they were "resolving all issues." Then we went five months without any news until they sued us. In the latest documents, Apple desperately tries to package this series of events to look better, but you can read those emails yourself.

Apple alleges that Chang Liu obtained confidential Apple information after leaving, but now admits that Apple employees actively contacted him to ask for help in locating that information (you can see the chat logs here). Apple is now trying to shift the blame to "residual access rights," but they haven't revealed that this is a common issue at Apple—because they failed to manage system access rights properly when employees left. The reality is that former employees who wanted to do the right thing at the time of departure still have access to Apple files—even though they didn’t want that access, and many weren’t even aware they still had it.

Apple also accuses Tang Tan of trying to obtain and use their trade secrets. However, Tang has always clearly communicated to the team that we do not want and cannot use any confidential information from other companies. Tang served Apple for over 24 years and is recognized as one of the most innovative leaders within the company.

We hoped Apple would talk to us before filing suit; we would have been happy to clarify everything with them. We took the allegations in the lawsuit seriously and proactively offered to collaborate with Apple to resolve the matter. But they chose to change the narrative, including vague accusations against other former employees, and are likely to continue this approach.

The preliminary injunction filed by Apple is based on false information and is completely unnecessary, as we have neither sought nor wanted any of their trade secrets. We are more interested in building innovative products and pushing the boundaries of technology.

Image: Chang Liu (blue bubble) with Apple employees in iMessage chat logs

Chang’s last working day was January 22, 2026. After leaving, former colleagues asked him to help locate files and information to assist them in their Apple work (all times in UTC)

Note: Other personal names and Apple confidential information have been edited

Source: OpenAI

Original Email Correspondence

The following email correspondence took place between Apple's external lawyer Gabriel Gross, OpenAI's General Counsel Che Chang, and Apple's internal legal team. These emails show that Gross mistakenly sent an email to Che, inaccurately claiming that the two spoke by phone. Gross and Apple's internal legal team subsequently confirmed this was an error, with Gross stating they were "resolving all issues." The specific allegations in Apple's lawsuit were never mentioned, and there was no further follow-up before they filed suit five months later.

Image: Due to the length of the dialogues listed in the original text, this image is a selected portion