By Kaitlyn Huamani and Matt O’Brien / AP
Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company.Apple said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees it was recruiting to share confidential information, even guiding them on how to avoid scrutiny when taking jobs at the other company.“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the filing says. “Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook is pictured in the crowd as then-US president Joe Biden talks about his economic plans at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s facility in Phoenix, Arizona, on Dec. 6, 2022.
Two former Apple employees who now work for OpenAI are also named as defendants. One is OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Tan, who helped design the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod. The other is former Apple electrical engineer Chang Liu, whom Apple says it entrusted with some of its most sensitive product development efforts before Liu left Apple to join OpenAI earlier this year.OpenAI said it is still reviewing the filing, but spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement Friday that OpenAI has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
