Apple employees are accused of stealing trade secrets

Apple has accused OpenAI of hiring former employees to obtain valuable insider information.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, Apple accused the artificial intelligence (AI) company, two of its employees, and io Products of engaging in a “pattern of theft” of Apple’s confidential product development and related operations.

At least two longtime Apple employees who left the company to join OpenAI are said to have participated in this pattern in part by emailing Apple internal information.

“We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” OpenAI spokesman Drew Pusateri told the BBC.

Pusateri added that the company, which is currently reviewing Apple’s complaint, is “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

An Apple spokesperson told the BBC that the charges were the result of “substantial evidence”.

Creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, it represents a major shift between Apple and OpenAI.

Tim Cook, Apple’s outgoing CEO, added ChatGPT to Apple devices when the company was looking to offer more AI features.

This year, Apple has shifted more of its AI features to work on Google’s Gemini model and devices.

However, when Cook announced his resignation in April, OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman publicly hailed him as a “legend,” saying, “I’m very grateful for everything he’s done.”

Now, Apple is accusing OpenAI of engaging in “Apple’s confidential data mining strategy.”

Along with OpenAI, Apple is suing io Products, a design startup founded by longtime Apple executive Jony Ive. OpenAI acquired the company last year.

He is suing Apple’s eight-year senior electrical engineer Chang Liu and 24 years with the company, vice president of iPhone and Apple Watch design Tang Yew Tan. Tan is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.

With these former employees and their access to “sensitive projects, trusted partner relationships, proprietary manufacturing techniques and unreleased products,” Apple said OpenAI was able to gain access to details of its product plans and operations.

Apple added that when OpenAI interviews current Apple employees, the company tries to extract more information from them.

OpenAI interviewers are said to have told prospective hires during interviews to “bring ‘real parts’ as ‘props’ from Apple for a ‘show and tell'”.

Apple accuses all of the parties it is suing of “in concert and as an enterprise using Apple’s confidential information to attempt OpenAI’s entry into the consumer hardware market.”

OpenAI is expected to release its first hardware product this month, a type of keyboard for use with AI tools.

It also plans to become a publicly traded company.

According to Apple in the lawsuit, OpenAI’s “unethical practice is condoned and symbolic” because “the hardware operation now rests on a derivative foundation, which is rotten to the core with an illegal reliance on illegal trade secrets.”

The company said it tried to discuss its concerns with OpenAI in February, but was ultimately ignored.

Apple has asked the court to immediately bar OpenAI from accessing or using any confidential information and is seeking unspecified monetary damages.