Apple, OpenAI duke it out as "rotten to its core" legal battle escalates #
San Francisco, California - A legal battle between Apple and OpenAI over the ChatGPT-maker's secretive device project escalated this week when the artificial intelligence (AI) developer called the iPhone-maker's allegations "baseless" and asked for the lawsuit's dismissal.
Apple sued OpenAI last month in San Jose, California, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a campaign to steal the iPhone maker's trade secrets through former employees as it tries to develop its own consumer hardware device.
In a new court document, Apple described OpenAI's actions as "repeated instances of deliberate theft."
"OpenAI should not be permitted to use Apple's secrets to gain an unjust head start in its hardware ambitions," the iPhone-maker says.
OpenAI hit back on Wednesday, calling for the case to be permanently dismissed to bar Apple from filing another lawsuit on the same grounds.
"Apple built its reputation by paying close attention to the smallest details. This lawsuit does the opposite," OpenAI's lawyers say in their filing, which continues to describe Apple's complaint as "rotten to its core."
Federal judge Edward Davila will consider both requests at an October 1 hearing.
ChatGPT creator says it has "no use, need or desire" for Apple tech secrets
To convince the judge of the urgency, Apple’s lawyers submitted a TechCrunch article describing leaked details about OpenAI’s highly anticipated first device: a screenless smart speaker designed in collaboration with LoveFrom, a studio founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s famed former head of design.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that the device would be circular like a donut, about the size of a hockey puck, and cost between $300 and $400, with a launch planned for 2027.
OpenAI has never confirmed these leaks.
"OpenAI has no use, need or desire for Apple's trade secrets," the creator of ChatGPT says in a court document, which continues that Apple hasn't named any specific products, such as an iPhone, that have allegedly been copied. "OpenAI is building something entirely new and different."
Apple, for its part, accuses OpenAI’s head of hardware Tang Tan, a former vice president of design at Apple, of using his knowledge of unreleased Apple products to extract information from job candidates.
In its response, OpenAI says it follows standard industry practices.
According to his lawyers, Tan "repeatedly instructed recruits and his team not to bring or disclose former employers' confidential information."
OpenAI also defends itself by accusing Apple of failing to properly protect its own data, claiming that the Cupertino company has "encouraged employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work, intermingling company and personal data, while failing to manage access cleanly across multiple Apple systems when employees departed."
The case comes at a sensitive time for OpenAI, which is worth a reported $852 billion as it works towards a potential IPO. The lab is also locked into a fierce competition with Anthropic, a rival AI lab in San Francisco that was founded by a group of former OpenAI employees.
Cover photo: Collage: JASON REDMOND / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP