TECH NEWS – Apple claims that OpenAI performed a kind of brain drain on the company and obtained information about upcoming hardware.

The company has filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the developer of ChatGPT of stealing trade secrets related to several upcoming consumer AI products. The complaint specifically names Tang Tan, Apple’s former vice president of design, and Chang Liu, the company’s former lead systems electrical engineer, as co-defendants. In addition to the allegations against OpenAI, the lawsuit names Jony Ive’s company, LoveFrom, as a defendant. OpenAI acquired io last year for $6.5 billion.

According to the lawsuit, Tan used his extensive knowledge of Apple’s planned AI product line to interview prospective Apple employees, instructing each candidate to bring genuine Apple hardware components and prototypes to meetings where he would demonstrate and explain them. Apple revealed that, as an example of a well-established practice, one candidate applying to OpenAI had already begun taking screenshots and downloading files related to a strictly confidential Apple project just a few hours before his interview with Tan. Tan then encouraged the candidate to bring additional information about the project with him. According to Apple, it appears to be common practice for employees leaving for OpenAI to circumvent security procedures designed to protect Apple’s confidential information.

Apple accused its former engineer, Liu, of exploiting a security flaw after leaving the company to download more than a thousand pages of confidential technical documents, including information on the circuit boards of Apple devices. Apple also accused OpenAI of misleading a trusted partner into revealing the company’s proprietary metalworking technique. To support its case, Apple disclosed that OpenAI had hired more than 400 of its former employees.

Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction and damages for the theft of its trade secrets and the destruction of any proprietary materials in OpenAI’s possession. Apple is also demanding that OpenAI redesign its upcoming hardware products so that they do not infringe on Apple’s technology. Over the past few months, OpenAI has continued to recruit talent from Apple to develop a consumer AI device that would rival the iPhone. Last year, it was reported that OpenAI had hired as many as 40 Apple engineers, including Matt Theobald, an expert in manufacturing design, and Cyrus Daniel Irani, the head of human-computer interaction design. To counter OpenAI’s enticing offers, Apple recently increased bonuses for members of its key design team, enabling them to earn between $200,000 and $400,000 annually depending on Apple’s stock performance.

All of this is happening as OpenAI works on a number of AI devices, including AI-powered earbuds with the internal codename Sweetpea, which may be sold under the Dime brand, and a pen-shaped consumer device with the internal codename Gumdrop.

Source: WCCFTech