Apple formally sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets to build self-developed AI hardware

Kuai Technology reported on July 11 that Apple filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California, accusing OpenAI of planning to steal Apple’s trade secrets and intellectual property for a long time to pave the way for its own AI hardware research and development. The complaint names OpenAI, hardware head Tang Tan, former Apple engineer Chang Liu, and io Products acquired by OpenAI as defendants. Altman and Jonathan Ivey have not been held accountable. Apple claimed that the entire leak was an organized long-term behavior. The core operator Tang Tan had worked in Apple hardware design and was familiar with Apple's confidentiality process for leaving employees. He instructed employees who were about to switch jobs at OpenAI to conceal the identity of their new employer, extend the time they had access to confidentiality at Apple, and secretly retained Apple's internal resignation security control documents and distributed them to job seekers. During the interview, candidates were required to bring physical hardware samples such as batteries, motherboards, and SIP chips to the site for display. Many candidates were asked to make similar requests, and unreleased models, parts, manufacturing processes, and supplier cooperation details were leaked to OpenAI. OpenAI also used Apple’s confidential supply chain information to contact manufacturers, and even lied about being authorized by Apple to force manufacturers to use Apple’s exclusive metal surface treatment process. Another defendant, Chang Liu, refused to return his Apple office laptop after leaving his job. He exploited system vulnerabilities to continuously log into Apple's intranet and download dozens of confidential engineering documents. He contacted Apple employees who were still employed for a long time to obtain internal information such as new product progress, supplier decisions, and engineering parameters. He also showed off to each other that he could still access Apple's storage servers. Apple stated that it proactively contacted OpenAI after discovering leak clues in February this year, but the other party did not give any response, thus launching a complete investigation. Apple believes that OpenAI is eager to launch its own hardware products, unwilling to invest in independent research and development, and takes shortcuts by stealing Apple's decades of accumulated technology. A culture of tacit approval of theft of trade secrets has formed within the company, and its hardware business is based on illegally obtained secrets. The complaint mentions that more than 400 former Apple employees have joined OpenAI, but this lawsuit does not target regular talent poaching practices.