The latest
OpenAI has accused Apple of filing a “baseless and pretextual” trade secrets lawsuit to slow employee departures to the ChatGPT maker, asking a California federal court on Wednesday to dismiss the case. The filing is OpenAI’s first formal response to allegations that it used current and former Apple employees to obtain confidential details about secret hardware projects while preparing a device of its own. The litigation follows an aggressive recruitment drive from the iPhone maker over the past two years.
Details
- Legal rationale: OpenAI claimed Apple was using the case to compensate for failures in retaining talent and integrating AI into its products. It cited California law and policy favoring worker mobility, arguing that employee movement has helped power the state’s technology sector.
- Missing specifics: The company said Apple had not identified particular confidential material allegedly taken and had misrepresented flawed offboarding procedures that caused communication errors with former staff. It also argued supplier information could be obtained legally or publicly rather than treated categorically as proprietary.
- Hardware push: OpenAI bought io Products, founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, for $6.4bn last year. Its filing said hundreds of Apple designers and engineers had joined efforts to build AI-era devices. Ive is not a defendant.
- Recruitment allegations: Apple named two former employees now at OpenAI, including hardware chief Tang Tan, and accused Tan of probing candidates about secret projects and seeking prototypes. OpenAI said Apple had not distinguished confidential disclosures from ordinary questions about experience with widely available components.
- File dispute: Apple alleged electrical engineer Chang Liu downloaded secret files before and after joining OpenAI. OpenAI said Apple had requested and authorised Liu to retrieve important account information after abruptly removing him when he resigned, challenging Apple’s portrayal of the transfers as improper.
- Cloud accounts: OpenAI said Apple encouraged personal iCloud use for work, mixing company and private data, then failed to manage departing employees’ access consistently. Apple did not immediately respond to the Financial Times’ request for comment.
Background
Apple filed the lawsuit in July, about two years after the companies partnered to add ChatGPT-based features to Apple devices. Apple later chose Google’s Gemini models in January to power “Siri AI”, while retaining ChatGPT integration. The Financial Times previously reported that OpenAI is developing a palm-sized, screenless device using audio and visual cues from its surroundings.
What’s next
Apple has asked Judge Edward Davila for an injunction barring OpenAI from using the allegedly stolen secrets and requiring evidence preservation. A hearing is currently scheduled for October, when the court is expected to consider the requested relief; OpenAI’s dismissal motion must also be resolved.
