Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the theft of trade secrets. The civil complaint was submitted to the Northern District of California and claims that OpenAI misappropriated proprietary information to benefit its operations. The lawsuit also accuses OpenAI of poaching two former Apple employees who allegedly breached their Intellectual Property Agreement.
Apple's lawsuit expresses concern that OpenAI utilized the allegedly stolen information to advance its hardware development. An Apple spokesperson stated that the company is committed to protecting its innovations and is taking necessary legal actions to address the situation.
The lawsuit seeks both a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent further theft and to compel OpenAI to return any confidential information related to unreleased Apple technologies. Additionally, Apple is pursuing unspecified damages.
The two individuals named in the lawsuit, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, are accused of engaging in wrongful acts in California. Liu, a former senior electrical system engineer at Apple, is alleged to have accessed confidential files and coached a colleague on how to bypass security measures while copying sensitive information. Tan, who previously served as vice president of product design for Apple, is accused of soliciting information about unannounced Apple products from job candidates.
The discovery process is expected to reveal evidence related to the alleged trade secret misappropriations. Apple emphasized that it does not take such legal action lightly, stating that it cannot tolerate the theft of its trade secrets.
Additionally, Apple has integrated OpenAI's ChatGPT into its operating systems, and there have been reports of tensions between the two companies. Both Apple and OpenAI are also involved in an antitrust lawsuit initiated by Elon Musk's X Corp. and xAI, which accuses them of suppressing competition in the generative AI sector.