Apple accused OpenAI of gaining access to valuable internal information by hiring its former employees.
In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, Apple sued the artificial intelligence (AI) company, two of its employees, and io Products, alleging it engaged in a “pattern of theft” of confidential Apple product development and related work.
At least two longtime Apple employees who left the company to join OpenAI allegedly took part in the scheme, in part by emailing themselves internal Apple information.
Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for OpenAI, told the BBC: “We are not interested in the trade secrets of other companies.”
Pusateri added that the company, which is currently pursuing Apple’s complaint, is “focused on creating innovative technologies that empower people around the world.”
An Apple spokesperson told the BBC that the claim is the result of “substantial evidence”.
This represents a major shift in the relationship between Apple and OpenAI, creator of the popular artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
Tim Cook, Apple’s outgoing CEO, added ChatGPT to Apple devices as the company wanted to offer more artificial intelligence features.
This year, Apple moved much of its artificial intelligence functionality to Google’s Gemini model and tools.
Still, when Cook announced he was retiring in April, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO, publicly called him a “legend,” adding that he was “very grateful for everything he’s done.”
Now Apple is accusing OpenAI of pursuing a “strategy to extract sensitive Apple information.”
Along with OpenAI, Apple is suing io Products, a design startup founded by longtime Apple executive Jony Ive. OpenAI acquired the company last year.
He is also suing Chang Liu, a senior electrical engineer who worked at Apple for eight years, and Tan Yu Tan, vice president of design for iPhone and Apple Watch who worked for the company for 24 years. Tan is now director of hardware at OpenAI.
Apple claims that thanks to these former employees and their access to “confidential designs, trusted partnerships, proprietary manufacturing technologies and unreleased products,” OpenAI was able to obtain detailed information about the plans and operations of its products.
Apple added that when OpenAI interviews current Apple employees for potential job openings, the company allegedly tries to get more information from them.
OpenAI interviewers allegedly told potential employees to “bring ‘real parts’ as Apple ‘props’ for show and tell” during interviews.
Apple accused all parties it sued of “acting in concert and as an enterprise in using Apple’s confidential information to advance OpenAI’s efforts to enter the consumer hardware market.”
This month, OpenAI is expected to release its first hardware product, a keyboard that will be used with artificial intelligence tools.
It also plans to go public.
In its lawsuit, Apple said that as “OpenAI’s misconduct is normalized and exposed by management,” its “nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to the core by the misuse of misappropriated trade secrets.”
The company also said it attempted to raise its concerns with OpenAI in February but was ultimately ignored.
Apple asked the court to immediately block OpenAI from obtaining or using any purportedly confidential information and seek unspecified monetary damages.