Apple isn’t happy with OpenAI, and it now has a lawsuit to prove it.
As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit names two former Apple executives as defendants: Tang Tan, who led Apple’s iPhone and Watch product design, and Chang Liu, who worked at Apple for eight years. The two currently work at OpenAI
The lawsuit also named Open AI and IO Products as defendants. IO Products was founded by Jony Ive, who is best known for his tenure at Apple.
According to Apple, Tan used insider information to learn additional confidential information when he interviewed job candidates. Liu, meanwhile, allegedly downloaded confidential engineering files by exploiting a security bug.
Lastly, Apple alleged that OpenAI used proprietary information to learn more about Apple components. Since OpenAI and IO Products have partnered up to create new hardware, the accusation extends to IO Products.
Apple allegedly reached out to OpenAI in February and brought up these concerns. However, OpenAI allegedly didn’t respond.
“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously,” reads a statement from an Apple spokesperson.
“Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”
In its own statement, OpenAI’s Drew Pusateri denied the accusations.
“We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” reads the statement.
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