Apple Inc. Says Former Employee Took Design Blueprints; OpenAI Blames Apple’s Management Problems

[Financial News] Apple Inc. and OpenAI have once again clashed over allegations that a former employee leaked trade secrets.
According to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on the 1st (local time), Apple Inc. claimed that Chang Liu, who moved to OpenAI, stole its core circuit design blueprints. Apple Inc. said a forensic analysis of the MacBook it received from OpenAI revealed that Liu had accessed its cloud storage without authorization after leaving the company and appeared to have instructed a colleague to delete data that could serve as evidence.
Apple Inc. believes Liu used the blueprints he obtained in this way to train artificial intelligence (AI) agents and for other purposes. On that basis, Apple Inc. asked the court to authorize expedited discovery against OpenAI and issue a preliminary injunction preventing OpenAI from using its technology.
In response, OpenAI argued in a counterfiling that the lawsuit was a mess Apple Inc. had brought upon itself. OpenAI stated, "The files Apple Inc. identified as evidence of a confidential-information leak were unrelated to OpenAI’s work. In fact, the files were sent by mistake and were merely zero-byte shell files." It added, "Liu accessed Apple Inc.’s platform after leaving the company only to assist former colleagues at Apple Inc. who had asked for his help."
OpenAI instead argued that "Apple Inc.’s inadequate data security and offboarding procedures are the problem." It said Apple Inc. encouraged employees to use personal accounts for work, which led to authorization errors when they left the company. OpenAI also claimed that Apple Inc.’s practice of dismissing employees on the day they announced their resignations left insufficient time for a proper handover.
Industry observers say the lawsuit between the two companies is not simply a dispute over the leakage of confidential information, but also a battle for control of the AI hardware market, which is expected to become a major growth area. The court plans to hold a hearing on the 1st of next month and decide whether to grant Apple Inc.’s request for a preliminary injunction.
[email protected] Hong Chae-wan Reporter