The wildest allegations in Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI

Apple Trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI is filled with a number of extraordinary allegations that paint a picture of a coordinated effort to extract confidential information from current and former Apple employees. But perhaps most surprising is the casual way in which the alleged misconduct is described, including one message that says: “Haha, I just found out I have access to (network storage), which is pretty funny.”

Page 41 complaintwhich was filed on Friday, is full of extraordinarily detailed claims, like these and others. Here are some of the things that stood out the most to us.

• “It is normalized and embodied through leadership.” With this description of OpenAI, Apple makes clear that its lawsuit is not just focused on rogue employees, but misconduct like this is part of OpenAI’s culture and is directed from the top.
• “Rotten to its core.” Leave it to Apple to draw a rotten fruit analogy in its criticism of OpenAI’s behavior in this case. The AI ​​model maker is rumored to be working on a device that will challenge the iPhone, potentially a smartphone of its own. But Apple wants to stress that what OpenAI is developing was allegedly built using Apple’s trade secrets. “OpenAI’s startup hardware business now rests on shaky foundations, corrupted to the core by its unlawful reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” the complaint states.
• “This is the tip of the iceberg.” In addition to documenting the allegations against its former employees, Apple suggests that the alleged misconduct described in the complaint is only a small portion of what it will disclose after the discovery process begins. During the discovery, company documents and communications are obtained, including texts and emails, which may reveal other examples of this type of behavior at OpenAI. “Discovery will reveal that the misappropriation occurred on a scale many times greater than the numerous instances described below,” Apple’s complaint states.
• “Haha, I found out I can access (network storage), very funny.” Apple says Chang Liu, who was previously a systems electrical engineer at Apple before joining OpenAI, sent this message to an Apple employee, Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, who allegedly served as a conduit between Apple and OpenAI. Peng later left to join OpenAI herself, but is not a defendant in the lawsuit. Ping allegedly replied to the message saying: “I’m ready.” Apple claims Liu gained access to Apple’s systems by exploiting an authentication bug, which he did from his former colleague’s work computer, which was released by Apple.
• “I still have another computer.” Liu also allegedly sent a text message within hours of leaving Apple, referring to another Apple computer that he allegedly planned to use to access confidential Apple information. Apple discovered the message on the work laptop that Apple had issued to his former colleague.
• “I didn’t even know we could take it from the office.” One of the most outrageous allegations is that OpenAI job candidates working at Apple were directed by OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Yutan, who spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, to bring “actual parts” of Apple to their OpenAI interviews for “show-and-tell sessions.” One candidate was surprised by the request, saying he didn’t even realize parts of Apple could be taken from the office, as Apple claims. Apple also says employees were instructed to bring “CAD/CAD tools” and “prototyping” to interviews.
• Avoid “fearful withdrawal.” Apple claims that OpenAI trained departing Apple employees on how to evade Apple’s security measures to reduce the chance of their alleged trade secrets being discovered stolen. The complaint alleges that OpenAI distributed an internal Apple document labeled “Need to Know” to new employees with details on how to avoid a “fearful withdrawal,” which would result in them being immediately removed from Apple after providing notice, rather than allowing them to continue working for the typical two weeks, which would allow them more time to access confidential Apple information.
• “Tell OpenAI ‘ASAP’ if you are asked to sign anything when you leave Apple. In addition to helping OpenAI job candidates avoid Apple’s security measures, the complaint alleges that if Apple asked departing employees to sign anything in an exit interview, they should have told OpenAI immediately, and it advised them not to sign.
• “More than four hundred former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.” Another surprise: The complaint reveals the extent to which Apple employees left the iPhone maker to work for OpenAI. Apple is using this number to paint a picture of the potential scale of the problem, noting that “it is not surprising that some OpenAI employees have knowledge of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information, which they are obligated to keep secret. But OpenAI has resorted to exploiting this confidential information…”
• “io…access, exploit and use Apple’s confidential and proprietary industrial design technologies, processes and know-how.” Founded by former Apple employees, including Jony Ive, the io company It was acquired by OpenAI last year In a deal worth $6.5 billion. Now, io is a defendant in this lawsuit, with Apple alleging that the company used its industrial design techniques by misleading an Apple partner into believing it had permission from Apple to implement a “secret metal finishing technology,” the complaint states. Apple also alleges that OpenAI contacted a supplier using its confidential information about design and components related to power and batteries, and even used “internal terms” to ask targeted questions that “only Apple insiders would know how to ask.”
• “Apple no longer has any choice.” Although the legal language seems typical, in this case, it appears that Apple may have tried to resolve the situation outside of the courts first. The tech giant says it first tried to contact OpenAI in February, raising its concerns, but OpenAI never responded.

So far, OpenAI has only commented publicly via Statement shared on X on Friday, which read: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We will remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”