OpenAI has asked a US judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Apple accusing the artificial intelligence company and two former Apple employees of misappropriating the iPhone maker’s trade secrets to advance OpenAI’s ambitions in the consumer hardware sector.
The motion to dismiss, filed on Wednesday, marks OpenAI’s formal response to legal action launched by Apple in July. The iPhone maker alleges that OpenAI orchestrated a broad effort to obtain and exploit Apple’s confidential information through former employees, recruitment practices and supplier relationships in order to accelerate its expansion into consumer hardware.
Rejecting those claims, OpenAI argued that Apple’s allegations are without merit and insisted that its hardware development efforts are independent of Apple’s proprietary technologies. In the filing, OpenAI’s lawyers stated that the company neither requires nor seeks access to Apple’s confidential information.
“OpenAI has no use, need or desire for Apple’s trade secrets. OpenAI is building something entirely new and different from anything at Apple,” the company’s lawyers wrote in the motion submitted to the court on Wednesday.
The filing presents OpenAI’s position that its work is driven by original research and development rather than reliance on information belonging to competitors. By seeking dismissal of the case at this stage, the company is asking the court to reject Apple’s legal claims before the dispute proceeds further.
OpenAI also addressed Apple’s allegations regarding its hiring practices, arguing that recruiting experienced talent from across the technology industry is both legitimate and essential to innovation. The company maintained that its interest lies in attracting highly skilled professionals rather than obtaining confidential corporate information through them.
“OpenAI does have an interest in hiring the best engineers, inventors, developers and creators — many of whom have decided to leave Apple and to come to OpenAI, attracted by the innovative and exciting work the company is doing,” the filing stated.
Apple’s lawsuit, lodged in July, alleges that OpenAI pursued a systematic strategy to acquire the company’s confidential information by leveraging former employees, recruitment efforts and supplier relationships. According to Apple’s claims, the alleged conduct was intended to accelerate OpenAI’s entry into the consumer hardware market.
The dispute highlights the increasingly competitive environment surrounding emerging consumer technologies, with established technology companies and AI developers competing for engineering talent while investing heavily in new hardware initiatives. Apple’s allegations focus on the protection of its proprietary information, while OpenAI maintains that its products are being developed independently and do not rely on Apple’s trade secrets.
For now, the legal battle has entered a new phase, with OpenAI asking the court to dismiss the case in its entirety. The motion places the competing positions of the two companies before the judge, who will determine whether Apple’s claims should proceed or be rejected at this early stage of the litigation. Until then, the dispute remains centred on fundamentally opposing accounts of how OpenAI is building its consumer hardware business and whether Apple’s confidential information played any role in that effort.
