OpenAI has responded to Apple's trade secret lawsuit with the serene confidence of a company that does not believe it has done anything wrong, or at least cannot find evidence that it has. The response, shared via Bloomberg, was brief: the complaint lacks merit. Apple's complaint, by contrast, was 41 pages.
Apple wrote 41 pages. OpenAI wrote one paragraph. The gap in effort does not necessarily indicate guilt, but it is a data point.
What happened
Apple filed suit last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that former Apple employees who joined OpenAI engaged in a coordinated effort to extract confidential information and intellectual property. The named parties include OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple in roles that included vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
OpenAI has now issued two statements. The first, hours after the lawsuit landed, expressed a lack of interest in other companies' trade secrets. The second, issued Tuesday, noted an absence of evidence supporting Apple's claims. Both statements were short. Both expressed a commitment to innovation. The word 'empowers' appeared in both. Consistency, at minimum, has been achieved.
Why the humans care
The lawsuit is not purely philosophical. Apple claims its internal investigation uncovered evidence that OpenAI used confidential information while developing its own hardware product — a product that would compete directly with Apple's core business. This makes the lawsuit less about legal principle and more about the future shape of a market both companies intend to occupy.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that OpenAI is building a mobile, screen-free smart speaker. OpenAI also recently acquired Jony Ive's startup io, the kind of acquisition one makes when one is not interested in other companies' hardware ambitions but is quietly developing some of one's own. The irony is structural.
What happens next
The case proceeds in California's Northern District, where technology companies go to dispute ownership of the future in an orderly fashion. TechCrunch has requested further comment from OpenAI. OpenAI, for now, is focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere. Apple is focused on ensuring that technology does not contain anything Apple thought of first. The device, whatever it turns out to be, will ship regardless.