Apple has sued OpenAI and two former employees on Friday, accusing them of trade secret theft amid simmering tensions between the two tech giants over the past few months. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Northern California underscored the Tim Cook-led Big Tech firm alleging that the ChatGPT maker orchestrated a scheme to systematically acquire and exploit Apple’s confidential information through former employees and other efforts to develop its own consumer hardware.
This latest development marks a dramatic escalation of the tiff that began to take shape when OpenAI announced plans to enter the hardware industry last year. At the time, the Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence startup bought Jony Ive’s startup, IO Products (also named in the lawsuit), for $6.4 billion. OpenAI has since denied the allegations and insisted on Friday that it had “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets”.
The shocking reversal also comes as OpenAI and Apple announced their ambitious partnership to integrate ChatGPT into Apple experiences in 2024. However, the tide appears to be turning with the current legal skirmish. In its filing, the iPhone maker said that more than 400 former Apple employees are now working for OpenAI.
The brand-new Apple vs OpenAI legal showdown comes weeks after a federal judge dismissed Elon Musk’s xAI trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI, which similarly accused the rival AI company of misappropriation of confidential information fuelled by xAI employees’ departure and subsequent new professional gigs at OpenAI.
Mirroring the response to the previous legal battle with Elon Musk’s AI firm, OpenAI has since denied the allegations and insisted on Friday that it had “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets”.
Apple sues OpenAI: Employees named in the lawsuit
“This much is clear, however: at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,” Apple stated in a legal filing, which names two former Apple employees.
Others named as defendants include OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and the company’s commercial arm. Moreover, the now OpenAI-acquired IO Products has also been flagged in the suit, but its British-American creator Jony Ive wasn’t.
Apple goes on to accuse OpenAI’s hardware chief, Tang Yew Tan, a former Apple VP named as a defendant in the suit, of pushing Apple employees interviewing at Sam Altman’s company to divulge the company’s secrets during the interview process.
“He has directed job candidates still working for Apple to bring ‘actual parts’ from Apple to their interviews for ‘show and tell’ sessions in which he and his team at OpenAI can elicit still more Apple confidential information,” Apple said in the lawsuit.
Additionally, the iPhone maker claimed that Tan, who is now OpenAI’s hardware chief, had been “methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI” even before he left Apple. Despite having worked on the iPhone for most of his more than 20-year-long Apple tenure, the lawsuit accuses him of emailing himself details about Apple suppliers and internal industry summaries.
Chang Liu has been named as yet another defendant in the suit. Among the several allegations raised by Apple, the company has also alleged that OpenAI guided employees leaving Apple on how to bypass securities processes at the time of their departure. Liu is believed to have stolen an Apple laptop, while the company also accuses him of later using an authentication bug to access its internal network and download “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files.”
OpenAI vs Apple: How are both companies reacting?
An Apple representative has since issued a statement to US media, saying, “Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products,” as quoted by CNBC.
Apple even claims to have confronted OpenAI in February to address concerns about confidential information pouring into its network, according to the legal complaint. Although the iPhone maker hoped to discuss the issue with the ChatGPT company, Apple claims it never got a reply.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has slammed the allegations, remarking that it has no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” it added.
Apple’s new version of its Siri assistant, coming out this fall, tapped Google’s Gemini AI models instead of OpenAI’s tech. It remains unclear how the fresh lawsuit against OpenAI will impact the partnership between the companies.