> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.implicator.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Apple Lawyer Mixed Up Two OpenAI Employees Before Trade-Secret Suit - URL: https://www.implicator.ai/apple-lawyer-mixed-up-two-openai-employees-before-trade-secret-suit/ - Published: 2026-07-15T14:49:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-20T19:25:47.000Z - Description: Apple told a federal court OpenAI never answered its February trade-secret warning. Emails show a reply came before Apple’s lawyer mixed up two employees, while the lawsuit alleges more than 1,000 pages were downloaded. The clerical error changes one fact in a case headed toward discovery. - Author: Marcus Schuler - Tags: AI News An outside lawyer for Apple mixed up two OpenAI employees in February correspondence over suspected trade-secret theft, according to emails reviewed by NBC News. Those emails show OpenAI replied to Apple's initial outreach, even though Apple's July complaint says the company "never responded." Apple filed the federal complaint on July 10, 2026, seeking damages and orders barring the defendants from possessing, using or disclosing its alleged trade secrets. The exchange documents an initial response without showing whether OpenAI addressed Apple's substantive concern. Key Takeaways - Emails show OpenAI answered Apple's February outreach before its lawyer confused two employees' names and addresses. - Apple alleges Chang Liu downloaded more than 1,000 pages through an authentication bug after joining OpenAI. - The complaint brings four federal trade-secret claims and two breach-of-contract claims; OpenAI says the case lacks merit. - The defendants have not formally answered, and the court has issued no substantive ruling. AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. [More on our AI guidelines](https://www.implicator.ai/about/). ## The February exchange NBC News reported that the correspondence stalled and, according to OpenAI, stopped abruptly after Apple's counsel confused the names and email addresses of employees whose surnames were Wang and Chang. The emails directly dispute the complaint's statement that OpenAI never responded in February. ## Apple's July 10 complaint The filing separately alleges that Chang Liu accessed files, Tang Yew Tan used interviews to solicit confidential details and OpenAI approached Apple suppliers. The 41-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, names OpenAI, io Products, Liu and Tan as defendants. Apple accused Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer who had spent more than eight years at Apple, of retaining an Apple-issued laptop after joining OpenAI in January. According to the complaint, Liu discovered on February 9 that an authentication bug then unknown to Apple still allowed him into Apple's shared network folders. The document says he downloaded dozens of confidential hardware files while working for OpenAI, including a collection exceeding 1,000 pages. It quotes Liu telling an Apple employee, "LOL, I found out I can access the \[network storage\], so funny." According to Apple, server logs showed that the few other users affected by the bug did not appear to access or steal confidential information. The complaint also accuses Tan, its former vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, of using internal project names during interviews and asking candidates to bring "actual parts" for "show and tell" sessions. Tan spent about 24 years at Apple before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer. The complaint says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, using that figure to describe hiring scale while identifying alleged conduct by Liu and Tan. ## Four federal trade-secret claims Apple brought four claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and two breach-of-contract claims. Patricia Lantzy, an attorney who leads Outside General Counsel's employment practice, told Business Insider that Apple must establish that the information was secret, that it took precautions to protect it and that the defendants intentionally obtained it through improper means. Get Implicator.ai in your inbox Strategic AI news from San Francisco. No hype, no "AI will change everything" throat clearing. Just what moved, who won, and why it matters. Daily at 6am PST. Email address Subscribe Check your inbox. Click the link to confirm. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Lantzy said California law generally protects OpenAI's recruitment of Apple employees, although instructions to bring confidential information would be "problematic." She described evidence that OpenAI used the information as difficult to prove at this stage and cautioned that the public record contains Apple's account before the defendants have answered. Know someone who'd find this useful? [✉️ Email it to a friend in one click](mailto:?subject=A%20newsletter%20I%20think%20you%27d%20like&body=This%20is%20one%20of%20maybe%20three%20newsletters%20I%20actually%20read.%20The%20rest%20just%20pile%20up%2C%20unread%2C%20judging%20me.%0A%0AAnd%20yes%2C%20this%20email%20mostly%20wrote%20itself%2C%20which%20is%20a%20little%20on%20the%20nose%20for%20an%20AI%20newsletter.%20Doesn%27t%20make%20it%20wrong.%20implicator.ai%20is%20good.%0A%0ASubscribe%20free%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.implicator.ai%2Fsubscribe%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dnewsletter%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dforward%26utm%5Fcampaign%3Demail%5Fforward), or they can [subscribe free here](https://www.implicator.ai/subscribe/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=forward&utm%5Fcampaign=forward%5Fto%5Fcolleague). The complaint seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, preservation of electronic evidence, return of Apple's information, damages and a jury trial. Apple says discovery will expose broader conduct, a claim that has yet to be tested in court. ## OpenAI's answer and discovery OpenAI responded in a statement reported by Bloomberg: "While we take these allegations seriously, we're not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit." The company also invoked fair competition and workers' freedom to change jobs. Alex Terepka, a founding partner of Watstein Terepka LLP, told The Verge he believed Apple's pleading would survive a motion to dismiss and lead to extensive discovery. The defendants have yet to file formal responses, and the court has issued no substantive ruling on Apple's allegations. Frequently Asked Questions What did Apple's lawyer mix up? Emails reviewed by NBC News show Apple's outside counsel confused the names and email addresses of two OpenAI employees whose surnames were Wang and Chang during February correspondence. What does Apple accuse Chang Liu of taking? Apple alleges Liu used an authentication bug after joining OpenAI to access shared network folders and download dozens of confidential hardware files, including a collection exceeding 1,000 pages. What does the complaint allege about Tang Tan? Apple alleges its former product-design vice president used internal project names during interviews and asked candidates to bring actual Apple parts for show-and-tell sessions at OpenAI. Does the email mix-up disprove the trade-secret case? No. The emails contradict the complaint's statement that OpenAI never responded in February, but they do not resolve Apple's separate allegations about files, interviews or suppliers. What happens next in Apple v. OpenAI? The defendants must file formal responses. A judge could then consider dismissal arguments before discovery. As of the source reports, the court had issued no substantive ruling on Apple's allegations. AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. 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