Brands
OpenAI rejects Apple trade secret claims in growing hardware fight
OpenAI says Apple has not shown confidential information was actually misappropriated
MUMBAI: The Apple cart has officially been rattled. OpenAI is pushing back against Apple’s allegations that former employees carried confidential information to the AI company, arguing that the iPhone maker has yet to show that any trade secrets were actually misappropriated.
In a filing before the US District Court in San Jose, OpenAI said Apple’s lawsuit stems partly from its own handling of confidential information and employee departures. The AI company also accused Apple of using the litigation to slow down a potential hardware rival and discourage its employees from joining OpenAI.
Apple filed the lawsuit in July against OpenAI and former Apple employees Tang Tan and Chang Liu, alleging that confidential information relating to hardware design, manufacturing and supply-chain operations was misappropriated.
The case comes as OpenAI accelerates its push into consumer hardware. Court filings indicate that the company has hired around 400 former Apple employees for its hardware initiative, bringing the two companies’ previously collaborative relationship into increasingly competitive territory.
OpenAI has argued that California law permits employees to move between competing companies. It has also questioned whether Apple took adequate steps to protect the information at the centre of its claims.
Earlier filings highlighted Apple employees’ use of personal iCloud accounts for work and what OpenAI described as gaps in Apple’s process for cutting off access to company information after employees left.
Apple, however, has continued to strengthen its allegations. The company recently claimed that Liu accessed a proprietary power-converter circuit schematic after joining OpenAI and used the information while working on AI-related tasks. Apple said the evidence was obtained from a MacBook handed over during the legal proceedings.
The dispute is particularly notable given that Apple and OpenAI were previously partners, with ChatGPT integrated into Apple’s ecosystem. OpenAI’s expanding hardware ambitions and recruitment of Apple talent have now shifted the relationship from collaboration towards competition.
For now, the central question is whether Apple can establish that protected trade secrets were actually taken and used. OpenAI’s latest filing makes clear that it intends to contest that claim while challenging the way Apple managed the information it says was confidential.
