OpenAI slams Apple trade-secret theft lawsuit as baseless: A mess of Apples own making

OpenAI slammed a lawsuit from Apple alleging it stole the iPhone maker’s trade secrets by hiring its employees, saying it’s “a mess of Apple’s own making,” according to a new legal filing.The Sam Altman-led firm argued Apple’s lawsuit was a “baseless” attempt to keep the company from recruiting more employees and slow its progress on its consumer devices.Many of the accusations that Apple made in its lawsuit are the result of its own bizarre offboarding process for workers, and there’s nothing illegal about Apple employees deciding to leave for new jobs at OpenAI, the company alleged in the late Monday filing in the Northern District of California.“This dispute is a mess of Apple’s own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else,” OpenAI said in the document. “Apple blames employees who left the company for taking their personal accounts with them – even though Apple encouraged them to use personal accounts for work. “It blames employers who interview Apple employees for asking questions – even though those unremarkable questions are standard in tech and every other industry.”Apple did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.In July, Apple sued OpenAI for allegedly coordinating the theft of product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies – saying former Apple workers had brought confidential information with them at OpenAI’s behest.The bombshell suit specifically named OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years, and Chang Liu, another former Apple worker who joined OpenAI’s technical team.OpenAI said Tan only sent non-confidential documents to his personal email, along with congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues and a copy of an Apple manager’s checklist for exiting employees.Apple also alleged that Tan encouraged employees to bring “actual parts” of Apple devices to OpenAI interviews, but OpenAI said any parts that candidates brought were...