OpenAI says Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit is ‘rotten to its core’

OpenAI has moved to dismiss Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, and its filing is a masterclass in legal counter-narrative. The company's core argument is that Apple is inflating ordinary product development information into protected trade secrets, and that the former employees' conduct has been mischaracterized as theft. The motion also claims Apple failed to take reasonable steps to maintain secrecy, which is the kind of quiet, technical point that can unravel a case built on broad allegations.

This is a dispute about the boundary between proprietary knowledge and industry-standard expertise. OpenAI's position is that the information at issue is generic, and that Apple's secrecy claims are too loose to hold up in court. The motion is designed to reframe the lawsuit as an attempt to police employee mobility and to punish a competitor for hiring talent, rather than as a genuine case of stolen secrets.

For the AI sector, the stakes are straightforward. If Apple's case survives, it could set a precedent that makes it riskier for companies to hire from rivals, especially in a field where talent is scarce and knowledge is often tacit. If the motion succeeds, it reinforces the idea that employees can move freely and that companies must be precise about what they claim as secret.

The legal outcome is uncertain, but the strategic play is clear. OpenAI is betting that the court will see Apple's complaint as overreach, and that the burden of proving actual theft and reasonable secrecy measures will be too heavy to carry. The motion is a reminder that in high-stakes tech litigation, the first battle is often over the frame of the story, not just the facts.