Apple has initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the company solicited and stole confidential information from its current and former employees. The lawsuit alleges that significant evidence has emerged indicating that individuals at OpenAI wrongfully accessed Apple's secret information related to unreleased technologies and products. The complaint specifically mentions Chang Liu, a former senior electrical engineer at Apple, who allegedly accessed Apple's cloud file storage after leaving the company and while employed by OpenAI. Liu reportedly celebrated this access in a message to a former colleague.
The lawsuit also names Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a former Apple employee, accusing him of using Apple's internal codenames to gather information from potential job candidates at Apple. Additionally, Apple claims that OpenAI approached its trusted partners with confidential information while developing its hardware device.
Apple states that over 400 of its former employees are now working at OpenAI and seeks to prevent the defendants from using or disclosing its trade secrets, as well as requesting the return of Apple materials and damages for the alleged misappropriation.