Apple said it reached out to OpenAI in February to share its concerns, but did not receive a response.
Apple, in a new lawsuit, has accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets, as Big Tech races to develop next-generation AI-powered consumer gadgets.
In its lawsuit filed last Friday (July 10), Apple alleged a “systematic pattern of misconduct at the institutional level” against OpenAI, including Io – the AI hardware startup that AI acquired last year.
Bloomberg reported that tensions between the two companies worsened after OpenAI enlisted Apple design visionary and io founder Jony Ive to help with its product line. The company already owned 23pc of Io before the acquisition.
Apple, according to the filing, said it reached out to OpenAI in February to share concerns but did not receive a response. OpenAI, for its part, said it “doesn’t care about the trade secrets of other companies.”
The lawsuit accused dozens of Apple employees who moved to OpenAI of a “pattern of theft” and alleged that OpenAI instructed potential Apple employees to bring artifacts and prototypes to their interviews. More than 400 former Apple employees are now employed at OpenAI.
The company accused Chang Liu, a former senior iPhone electronics engineer, of leaving Apple for OpenAI earlier this year without returning his equipment or complying with exit procedures.
According to the report, Liu allegedly told a co-worker that he was able to use an Apple-issued computer that he planned to acquire to obtain sensitive information.
The lawsuit accused Liu of accessing a co-worker’s work computer without the company’s permission, and said he used a rare, previously unauthorized bug without notifying Apple.
“He celebrated his wrongful access, exclaiming in a message left on an Apple-issued work laptop, “LOL”, and that it was “a lot of fun,” the indictment read. He also accused Liu of accessing and downloading “a bunch of confidential files related to Apple’s hardware” while developing OpenAI products.
The lawsuit also accused Liu of coaching a former Apple colleague on how to copy Apple’s confidential information. “Knowing that the OpenAI interviews would involve discussing Apple’s technology, Liu advised him which of Apple’s confidential material about unannounced Apple products he should read before his interview,” the lawsuit reads.
Another defendant, Tang Yew Tan, who currently works as OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, is accused of “using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI”.
Tan left Apple to found Io alongside Jony Ive, Scott Cannon and Evans Hankey in 2024, where he led the line as chief hardware officer.
In his two-plus year career at Apple, Tan also served as the company’s VP of product development for the iPhone and Apple Watches. Ive, Cannon and Hankey were not named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Tan, a few months before going to OpenAI, met with the company or its partners to discuss the details of private meetings with an Apple supplier.
Tan allegedly used unauthorized access to seek information about an unannounced Apple product, the company said. He was also accused of directing job seekers still working at Apple to bring secret components from advanced products to a ‘show and tell’ session at OpenAI.
“Some former Apple employees who went to work for OpenAI sent Apple’s confidential information to their accounts on their way out,” Apple said.
“And others were improperly using their knowledge of Apple’s proprietary and confidential information to assist OpenAI in developing hardware.”
Don’t miss out on the information you need to succeed. Sign up for Daily BriefSilicon Republic’s digest of must-know sci-tech news.
