--- title: "Apple Sues OpenAI; Musk Calls Altman a \"Big Liar,\" Altman Retorts, \"You're the One Pitching Space Data Centers\"" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/292394863.md" description: "Musk accused Altman of \"taking fraud to a new level,\" while Altman sarcastically mocked his promotion of the \"space data center\" concept. Musk countered by alleging that Altman \"stole an open-source AI charity\" and Apple's mobile phone technology. Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday" datetime: "2026-07-12T07:09:41.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/292394863.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292394863.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/292394863.md) --- # Apple Sues OpenAI; Musk Calls Altman a "Big Liar," Altman Retorts, "You're the One Pitching Space Data Centers" The verbal spat between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has escalated once again, coinciding with the release of flagship new models by their respective AI companies in the same week, intensifying the competitive tension. On July 11, Musk posted on X, accusing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of "taking fraudulent behavior to new heights," targeting OpenAI's business practices toward users and customers. Altman immediately fired back, sarcastically mocking Musk for peddling the concept of "short-term space data centers" to public market investors. Musk retaliated by stating that Altman not only "stole an open-source AI charity" but was also accused of "stealing Apple's mobile phone technology" amid the outbreak of Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI. He further mocked Altman, suggesting he needed permission from his parole officer to travel. This exchange occurred in the same week that OpenAI released GPT-5.6 and SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.5. With both products directly competing in the AI agent sector, the verbal feud has garnered significant market attention. ## Musk Fires Shots, Altman Counters with Space Data Center Jabs According to Musk's post on X on July 11, he directed sharp and blunt criticism at Altman. Altman reposted the message and responded: > Dude, you are the one peddling short-term space data centers to public market investors. Musk quickly struck back, claiming these space data centers "will start flying next year," and sarcastically suggested that if Altman's "parole officer" approved, he might be able to come visit. Musk further accused Altman of "first stealing an open-source AI charity, and then stealing all of Apple's mobile phone technology," asking: > What's next? It's hard to top this. > > **Musk's reference to "Apple technology" is directly related to Apple's recent lawsuit against OpenAI.** Wallstreetcn noted that Apple filed a lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing OpenAI of deliberately inducing Apple employees to leak information, components, diagrams, and other materials related to unreleased products to serve its plans for developing proprietary hardware. Apple demanded that OpenAI immediately cease such activities, destroy all involved proprietary materials, and redesign its upcoming products to ensure they contain no Apple technology. OpenAI responded by stating that it has no interest in other companies' trade secrets and remains focused on building innovative technology. This lawsuit will profoundly impact the future of cooperation between the two companies. OpenAI has long provided key technical support for Apple's Apple Intelligence platform and Siri voice assistant, a partnership officially announced two years ago at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. ## GPT-5.6 vs. Grok 4.5: Two Flagship Models Go Head-to-Head This week, OpenAI and SpaceXAI sequentially released their latest flagship models, creating a direct confrontation. OpenAI launched GPT-5.6, while SpaceXAI released Grok 4.5. Both products are positioned as AI agents, capable of autonomously handling multi-step tasks. **In terms of performance positioning, each product has its own focus:** > - **GPT-5.6** excels in broad reasoning, business workflows, and cybersecurity; > - **Grok 4.5** is more efficient in autonomous programming and developer workflows, with lower usage costs than GPT-5.6. However, in certain capability dimensions such as abstract reasoning, OpenAI's model still leads Grok. For investors and enterprise users, the differentiated positioning of the two products means that choices depend on specific use cases. Enterprises seeking comprehensive reasoning capabilities may lean toward GPT-5.6, while developers prioritizing cost-effectiveness and code automation may prefer Grok 4.5. ### Related Stocks - [AAPL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPL.US.md) - [AAPD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPD.US.md) - [AAPB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPB.US.md) - [AAPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPX.US.md) - [AAPU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPU.US.md) - [AAPW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPW.US.md) - [APLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/APLY.US.md) - [AAPY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPY.US.md) - [MAGX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MAGX.US.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) ## Related News & Research - [Apple accuses OpenAI of playing dirty in the AI talent wars](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292361652.md) - [Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292355679.md) - [Apple’s failed self-driving car program left a legacy of powerful AI chips](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292406910.md) - [Apple Releases New AirPods Beta Firmware With iOS 27 Features](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291966202.md) - [Meta jumps into AI coding market in effort to chase Anthropic and OpenAI](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292212124.md)