OpenAI publicly rebutted Apple's trade-secret lawsuit over former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan, publishing iMessage exchanges and email correspondence it says contradict Apple's account. OpenAI states that Apple's outside counsel, Gabriel Gross of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, emailed OpenAI General Counsel Che Chang on February 23, 2026 by mistake after confusing two similar last names and inaccurately claimed a phone call had occurred; Gross and Apple in-house counsel later acknowledged the error, and no further contact followed for five months before the suit was filed. OpenAI says Apple employees themselves asked Liu — whose last day at Apple was January 22, 2026 — for help locating files, and attributes lingering file access to Apple's offboarding practices. OpenAI calls Apple's preliminary injunction request unnecessary and, in an August 6, 2026 update, linked its Motion to Dismiss.

• openai.com2026-08-03