OpenAI Refutes Apple’s Trade Secret Theft Claims, Blames iPhone Maker for the ‘Mess’: Report

Apple accused OpenAI of stealing its trade secrets by soliciting confidential information from the iPhone maker's former employees. The accusation was made in the lawsuit that the tech giant filed against the AI firm earlier this year in July. This came after OpenAI hired multiple Apple employees, who allegedly brought knowledge of future Apple products. Interestingly, this coincided with reports of OpenAI's plans to foray into the hardware segment with a smart speaker. Now, in a new court filing, OpenAI puts the blame back on Apple for being unable to safeguard its own trade secrets, while calling the lawsuit a mess.

‘This Dispute is a Mess of Apple's Own Making', Says OpenAI

In the latest court filing (via Reuters) submitted by the Sam Altman-led AI firm to the US District Court in San Jose, California, OpenAI denied Apple's allegations of stealing trade secrets. The company reportedly said that the iPhone maker failed to present evidence supporting its claims that its former employees stole confidential information about its future products and hardware. OpenAI reportedly said that the “dispute is a mess of Apple's own making”.

Further, the AI firm said Apple is trying to blame everyone else for not being able to safeguard its own trade secrets. This comes after Apple filed a lawsuit in July against OpenAI and its former employees Tang Tan and Chang Liu, who are now working for OpenAI, for stealing trade secrets regarding hardware design, manufacturing and supply chain operations.

The ChatGPT maker has reportedly been planning to launch new consumer electronics, powered by OpenAI's GPT AI models. The Sam Altman-led tech firm says that Apple is trying to slow down a potential competitor with the new lawsuit, while also trying to discourage employees from leaving the Cupertino company. Further, OpenAI said that Apple employees were leaving the company because it is behind in AI innovation to join a startup that is ahead in the AI race.

In the lawsuit, Apple pointed out that OpenAI was hiring former employees to solicit information from them to launch its AI-powered devices. Hence, the John Ternus-led iPhone maker is seeking compensation for financial damages, while also asking the US District Court to order OpenAI to stop such practices and destroy the trade secrets and other information it has already managed to acquire using them.