Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI for alleged theft of trade secrets is intensifying. According to a new report from the Financial Times, Apple recently sent letters to 40 former employees asking them not to delete any emails or other forms of personal communication that might contain information relevant to the ongoing lawsuit. Although such requests are typical during the discovery portion of legal battles, Apple sending letters to dozens of former employees suggests that Apple believes there is much more to uncover. Indeed, Apple, in its initial court filing, said the evidence it had already uncovered was just the “tip of the iceberg.”
It’s no secret that Apple has experienced a mass exodus of employees over the past year to work at OpenAI. It’s worth noting that many of the people who left Apple for OpenAI are not just ordinary engineers, but often some of Apple’s top talent. As it stands, OpenAI has poached more than 400 Apple employees as the company remains committed to turning its successful AI software into a hardware device. Recently, a Bloomberg report revealed that OpenAI’s first major hardware product will be a wearable smart speaker that will “serve as an AI companion like a human who lives in the home.”
OpenAI has not yet officially filed a response to Apple’s lawsuit. The company did, however, release a curiously vague statement that read: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on creating innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.” Many have pointed out that OpenAI’s statement is surprisingly weak considering the seriousness of Apple’s claims.
What Apple’s OpenAI Lawsuit Is About
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Apple claims OpenAI illegally misappropriated its trade secrets. Apple specifically alleges that a former employee named Tang Tan, who is now head of hardware at OpenAI, absconded with proprietary information about Apple products and asked Apple employees interviewed at OpenAI to secretly do the same. At this point, Apple suggests that Tan “has asked candidates still working for Apple to bring ‘real pieces’ from Apple to their interviews for ‘show and tell’ sessions during which he and his team at OpenAI can get even more confidential information from Apple.”
One of the wildest allegations in Apple’s lawsuit is that OpenAI deceived an Apple supplier by showing it a metal finishing technique used on Apple products. The suit alleges that OpenAI misled the vendor into believing that Apple had granted OpenAI permission to learn about the proprietary technique. Apple also alleges that a former Apple employee, Chang Liu, kept a company-issued laptop after leaving the company. He later bragged to a former colleague that he had found an authentication bug on Apple’s network and planned to use the laptop to access confidential information.
The lawsuit reads in part: “While developing hardware for OpenAI, Mr. Liu surreptitiously accessed and downloaded dozens of confidential files related to Apple hardware, including voluminous and detailed information on unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.”
It will be interesting to see how OpenAI responds given that Apple apparently has a significant amount of damning evidence. It will also be interesting to see the impact of the lawsuit on OpenAI and Apple’s continued relationship involving the integration of ChatGPT into iOS.
