The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple has accused OpenAI of nicking its hardware secrets.
For those who came in late, Apple missed the AI boom and was unable fell a long way behind. Now it seems that Job’s Mob is going to blame OpenAI for nicking its tech.
According to the Financial Times Job’s Mob has accused OpenAI and two of its employees of stealing top secret information in a lawsuit filed in a California federal court.
Apple claimed the ChatGPT maker used its former and current staff to steal hardware designs as the startup prepares AI-focused devices.
It alleged this was part of a pattern of misconduct normalised by OpenAI’s top leadership.
Apple said: “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.”
An OpenAI spokesman said: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
The lawsuit marks a nasty breakdown between Job’s Mob and OpenAI as both outfits trample across each other’s turf.
Job’s Mob launched its new ChatGPT-like Siri in June, while OpenAI has been plotting a run at the iPhone.
OpenAI showed its consumer hardware ambitions when it bought io, the studio led by Job’s Mob former design chief Jony Ive, for $6.4bn in May last year.
OpenAI has since been aggressively poaching staff from Job’s Mob, part of a broader trend of AI talent leaving the iPhone maker.
Job’s Mob claims more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI.
While OpenAI became Apple’s ob first big AI partner in 2024, integrating ChatGPT into Siri, Job’s Mob has since teamed with Google for newer features.
Job’s Mob said it launched an internal investigation into OpenAI’s possible theft of trade secrets in February.
It said it warned the ChatGPT maker but received no response.
The lawsuit alleged the evidence detailed in the complaint was just the “tip of the iceberg” at OpenAI, “where such misconduct is normalised and exemplified by leadership”.
The lawsuit said: “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Tan left Job’s Mob in early 2024 to join Ive’s outfit before OpenAI bought it.
Tan spent 24 years at Apple, including a spell as vice-president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
The lawsuit alleged Tan shared confidential information about Job’s Mob suppliers with OpenAI in the months before he left the iPhone maker.
It said: “when interviewing Apple employees for jobs at OpenAI, Mr Tan uses Apple’s confidential information to gain access to even more insider knowledge”.
Job’s Mob claimed Tan and OpenAI told its employees to bring digital designs and prototypes to interviews at the AI startup for “show and tell sessions”.
Former Job’s Mob electrical engineer Chang Liu worked on some of the company’s “most sensitive product development programs” before joining OpenAI in January this year.
Job’s Mob alleged Liu failed to return at least one work device and did not answer queries about whether he had complied with other “exit procedures”.
The lawsuit claimed Liu used a Job’s Mob employee’s computer to access trade secrets.
It alleged that he coached her to copy files while dodging Job’s Mob security before she left for OpenAI in April.
The lawsuit said Liu exploited a “vulnerability” in Apple network storage to steal confidential files after he left the company.
Job’s Mob said Liu texted the employee: “LOL, I found out I can access the network storage, so funny.”
It is, given that Apple is supposed to be the most secure company on the planet, at least according to the Tame Apple Press.
Other former employees similarly took confidential information with them “on their way out the door”, according to the lawsuit.
Job’s Mob is seeking a legal injunction to prevent OpenAI, Tan, and Liu from destroying evidence related to its claims.
It wants OpenAI to “return all copies of Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information”. Job’s Mob is seeking damages or royalties from any misappropriated trade secrets.
