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Aug 07, 2026
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Supported by
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TGIF! OpenAI asks the judge to dismiss Apple's lawsuit, calling the case “rotten to its core.” Stripe is in exclusive talks to buy OpenRouter. Alphabet, the parent of Google, raises as much as $25 billion in a new debt sale.
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OpenAI moved to dismiss Apple’s trade-secret suit, calling the case “rotten to its core.” In a court filing Wednesday, the AI startup said that Apple in its lawsuit never identifies the specific trade secrets that it accuses former employees of bringing with them to OpenAI. Instead, OpenAI said that Apple’s complaint alleges those trade secrets encompass broad categories like “hardware engineering” and “supply chain operations.” “Those are not trade secrets,” OpenAI said in its motion to dismiss. “And the invocation of those generic and non-specific categories does not help ascertain the boundaries of the information at-issue.” OpenAI also argues in the motion that Apple twisted ordinary conduct by ex-employees into theft. Chang Liu—a former Apple engineer now at OpenAI who is named as a defendant in Apple’s lawsuit—kept accessing old files only because Apple itself kept contacting him and stayed logged into his accounts to help transition work, according to OpenAI. Tang Tan, another former Apple employee named as a defendant in the company’s suit, told recruits not to bring confidential material to OpenAI, according to the AI startup’s motion to dismiss. “Apple built its reputation by paying close attention to the smallest details,” OpenAI said in its motion. “This lawsuit does the opposite.”
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Stripe recently entered exclusive talks to buy OpenRouter in a cash-and-stock deal that would value the startup for close to $10 billion, according to people with knowledge of the discussion. This step means OpenRouter has effectively taken itself off the market while the companies negotiate price and other details to finalize a transaction. Terms of the deal could still change or it could fall apart. It’s possible that another bidder could still emerge if the exclusivity window expires. OpenRouter, last valued at $1.3 billion, has been working with an investment bank to evaluate its options, the people said. Other big tech companies had been considering potential deals for OpenRouter, The Information reported. A deal for OpenRouter could help Stripe, which processes billions of transactions mainly for business customers, direct customers to the cheapest model and the ones best suited for specific tasks. OpenRouter uses Stripe to process payments and for invoicing, tax and other services. OpenRouter, which helps app developers access hundreds of AI models, was recently generating about $140 million in annualized revenue. If a deal goes through, Stripe would be paying a substantial premium of about 70 times its recent annualized revenue. A spokesperson for Stripe said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation. The founders of OpenRouter didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Alphabet, the parent of Google, has raised as much as $25 billion in a new debt sale after attracting more than $115 billion of interest by offering what is known as a new-issue concession, or higher yields than some of its existing bonds, according to Bloomberg. The sale comes as the world’s largest tech companies burn through free cash flow to build the infrastructure and computing power needed for artificial intelligence, and follows several weeks in which the bond markets have shown less appetite for some of the debt. A rush of new issuance in the investment-grade bond market tested investor appetites earlier this summer, with Nvidia, SpaceX and Amazon each selling $25 billion within weeks of each other. During a video discussion convened by The Information last month, John Greenwood, a Goldman Sachs banker, acknowledged those issues. “You’ve begun to sense some digestion issues,” Greenwood said July 22. “Supply and demand will continue to be incredibly constructive, but we’re seeing the implications of billions of dollars continuing to come to market each week.” Alphabet’s debt sale is on top of more than $50 billion it financed in the first half, including issues denominated in Swiss francs, euros, Japanese yen and other currencies. The company also announced an $85 billion equity raise earlier this year. Alphabet’s underwriters told investors that from here on out the company would sell debt twice a year, Bloomberg reported.
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China’s top internet regulator said on Thursday it had launched a cybersecurity review of products sold in the country by U.S. security software firm Palo Alto Networks. The Cyberspace Administration of China said that the purpose of the review is to “ensure the secure and stable operation of key information infrastructure, prevent cybersecurity risks and safeguard national security.” The probe comes amid escalating trade, tech and national security friction between Beijing and Washington. The U.S. government recently announced a ban on imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots, which are mostly from China, and also blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies over forced labor allegations. In response, China’s commerce ministry earlier this week announced its own sanctions and export controls. In January, Reuters reported that the Chinese government had told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software from more than a dozen U.S. and Israeli companies, including Palo Alto Networks, VMware and others, citing national security concerns.
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SoftBank said it borrowed $10 billion against its OpenAI shareholding on Wednesday, a month after it put another $10 billion more into OpenAI, the latest sign of the financial high-wire that the Japanese investment giant is walking with its OpenAI foray. SoftBank has invested $20 billion of a planned $30 billion second investment in OpenAI following an earlier $34 billion investment. It is due to pump the final $10 billion into the ChatGPT creator in October. At that point, SoftBank said it would have about a 13% stake in the company. SoftBank reported it had recorded a gain of $45 billion on its OpenAI stake, reflecting the AI firm’s rising valuation. SoftBank calculated the fair value of its OpenAI stake at $89.6 billion.
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