Apple is escalating its trade-secrets battle with OpenAI. In a new court filing on August 4, the iPhone maker is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop OpenAI from developing an AI device or other products based on Apple technology — and claims its investigation has widened to as many as 11 more former Apple employees.
Apple is requesting expedited discovery from the accused OpenAI employees — senior systems engineer Chang Liu and Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan — as well as from OpenAI, its foundation, and io, the device startup co-founded by Apple's former design chief Jony Ive.
The filing alleges the misconduct goes beyond the employees named in the original complaint. One former Apple employee reportedly met with Liu and another OpenAI employee in advance of a job interview and discussed Apple proprietary information about unannounced products; another took screenshots of confidential Apple documents before an interview at OpenAI. Apple also claims that, after it filed the complaint, multiple former employees now working at OpenAI reached out to return Apple-issued work devices they had kept — suggesting even more people may have been involved.
Apple argues the expedited discovery is justified because it has "good cause" to suspect others were involved in the theft of its intellectual property.
OpenAI pushed back publicly, saying in a blog post that the request for a preliminary injunction is "both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets." "We're much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier," the company said.
OpenAI also pointed to earlier missteps by Apple, including emailing the wrong person after confusing two similar surnames, and suggested that the "residual access" that allowed former employees to reach Apple's systems stemmed from Apple's own security weaknesses.
The dispute, which began with a complaint filed in July accusing OpenAI of orchestrating a coordinated effort to acquire Apple's confidential information — including product designs and manufacturing processes — shows no sign of cooling down.
