New Delhi, July 15 -- NEW YORK - An attorney's mix-up of two OpenAI employees' last names appears to have set off the chain of events that put Apple and OpenAI in federal court, and according to NBC News, it also undermines a central claim Apple made in its own lawsuit.

The error, confirmed by people familiar with the proceedings, occurred when Apple's outside counsel confused the surnames of two OpenAI employees named Wang and Chang, sending at least one communication to the wrong person. That clerical mistake fed a breakdown in contact that Apple's legal team later characterized as OpenAI failing to respond. Except OpenAI did respond.

NBC News, citing reporting by technology reporter David Ingram published Monday, confirmed that OpenA...