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Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets obtained by the hiring of two former employees.
The iPhone manufacturer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed last week that it had evidence that senior OpenAI execs, including Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, had directed a “pattern of theft” to access inside information.
OpenAI has hit back at the suit and said it has no interest in trade secrets from Apple or any other company.
‘Strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information’
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accused OpenAI bosses of using hiring processes to gain information about Apple, including its products.
Tan – who previously spent 24 years at Apple and was VP of Product Design for the iPhone and Apple Watch – was accused of asking applicants for confidential project code names at Apple, requesting candidates to bring Apple hardware to interviews for “show and tell” purposes, and even giving them tips to evade company security protocols so they could steal confidential information during their departure.
Two OpenAI staff, previously long-time employees at Apple, were accused of emailing themselves internal information and stealing secrets to pass on to their new employer.
The suit described OpenAI’s approach as a “strategy to extract Apple's confidential information.”
Using the former employees, OpenAI allegedly gained access to “sensitive projects, trusted partner relationships, proprietary manufacturing techniques, and unreleased products,” it said.
Culture & hiring approach questioned
In a public statement, a spokesperson for OpenAI defended the firm: “We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets.”
But in a statement, Apple said the lawsuit is backed by “significant evidence.”
“Individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products,” the statement claimed. “We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”
The lawsuit accused OpenAI – which is set to release its first hardware product, a keyboard, in the coming months – of “acting in concert” with the employees, “exploiting Apple's confidential information to advance OpenAI's efforts to enter the consumer hardware market.”
The employees in question are being sued by Apple, as well as OpenAI itself. OpenAI’s culture and approach to hiring is criticized heavily in the suit.
“Misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” it claimed.
Apple is seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages, while also requesting the court prohibit OpenAI from using any information it alleges was stolen.
