When Apple filed a damning lawsuit against OpenAI a few weeks back for supposedly stealing secrets related to a slew of upcoming consumer-oriented AI devices, we were led to believe that the maker of iPhones had a rock-solid case against OpenAI, replete with the proverbial smoking gun.

OpenAI's scathing response to Apple's lawsuit, however, has just demolished that fallacy, painting a picture of utter incompetence within Apple's labyrinthine halls instead.

Back in July, Apple filed what appeared to be a damning lawsuit at the time against OpenAI, accusing it of stealing its proprietary technology, circuit designs, and component architecture for a slew of upcoming consumer-geared AI devices.

Apple tallied within the lawsuit application that over 400 of its former employees have ended up at OpenAI, with the iPhone maker's former VP of Design, Tang Tan, reportedly playing a pivotal role by encouraging Apple employees vying for a stint at OpenAI to bring actual Apple hardware components and samples for "show and tell" sessions.

Now, however, OpenAI has responded with a cogent riposte , noting:

1. "Apple had claimed that they contacted OpenAI in February and that we didn’t respond. They now admit that their outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names - only after we brought this to their attention."
2. Apple claimed at the time that it undertook a discussion with OpenAI's general counsel but now concedes that discussion never happened.
3. While Apple has accused its former engineer, Chang Liu, of exploiting a security bug to download confidential engineering files that spanned over a thousand pages after leaving the company, OpenAI says that Apple now "admits" it only contacted Liu to seek his help in uncovering more information.
4. OpenAI says that the ability of former Apple employees to retain access to Apple's existing infrastructure is wholly due to a massive lacuna within the tech giant's system access management protocols.
5. The maker of ChatGPT also defends Tang Tan by noting that he has "always been clear with the team that we do not want, and must not use, any confidential information from other companies."
6. Finally, do note that OpenAI has accused Apple of "trying to change their narrative, including by making vague accusations about other former employees."

As such, OpenAI feels Apple's request for a preliminary injunction is both "based on false information and completely unnecessary."

Do note that OpenAI has been working on a number of AI devices , including AI-powered earbuds that bear the internal codename "Sweetpea" but might retail under the "Dime" brand name, and a consumer device that is shaped like a pen and bears the internal codename "Gumdrop." More recently, OpenAI appears to have pivoted to an AI phone , where users would rely on real-time AI agent inference using a combination of on-device and cloud-based models, rather than individual apps, to perform a variety of productivity tasks.

Even so, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, OpenAI is likely to unveil a unique smart speaker first , one that has "mechanical elements" that can help it move around the house, and will come equipped with a rechargable battery. Of course, Apple is also actively preparing a somewhat similar smart home device that bears the internal codename J595 , and will reportedly come equipped with a screen and a robotic arm.

Meanwhile, Apple is also working to incorporate AI into a number of its upcoming products, including audio-only and AR-based smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods Pro (though the latest tidbit suggests the product has been placed in a deep-freeze ), and a wearable AI pin or pendant that would come equipped with multiple cameras, a speaker, microphones, and wireless charging. Apple's pin/pendant would presumably act as a conduit for channeling commands to Siri, while relying heavily on its iPhone counterpart for most processing despite sporting an onboard chip, albeit comparable in power to the one that is housed within the AirPods or the Apple Watch.

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