tech
The biggest bombshells from Apple's trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI
In a filing, Apple says former employees working for OpenAI retained access to the iPhone maker's systems after leaving.
TL;DR
- Apple alleges OpenAI exploited a security bug, allowing former employee Chang Liu to download confidential engineering files after leaving Apple.
- The lawsuit claims Liu downloaded documents related to unreleased products, technical specifications, and manufacturing processes.
- Apple accuses OpenAI of turning job recruitment into intelligence-gathering sessions, with Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan asking candidates to bring physical components for "show and tell".
- Apple states that its concerns were raised with OpenAI earlier this year, but the company never responded, leading to the lawsuit.
- Apple claims that OpenAI's hardware business is built on illegally misappropriated trade secrets.
- The lawsuit is a dramatic escalation of the relationship between Apple and OpenAI, especially following Apple's integration of ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence.
- OpenAI is also facing legal battles with The New York Times over copyrighted material and a previous suit from Elon Musk regarding its non-profit to for-profit transition.