Apple sues OpenAI, accusing ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets

Apple on Friday sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI and two of the firm’s executives, alleging that it stole Apple’s trade secrets to gain an edge in the AI arms race. 

The civil suit, filed in the Northern District of California, Apple accuses OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and Chang Liu, a technical staffer at the company, of stealing proprietary information from Apple, their former employer, to help OpenAI develop its own hardware. 

Apple also accused OpenAI of engaging in a “coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level.”

“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the complaint states. “Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.”

While employed at Apple, Tan helped design the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod, according to the lawsuit. The suit also alleges that Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer, was privy to some of the technology giant’s most sensitive product development information. 

Neither Apple nor OpenAI immediately responded to a request for comment. 

OpenAI has not revealed what types of products it is developing to run its software, but has said it is researching new ways for people to interact with AI beyond “traditional products and interfaces” as the firm makes its foray into physical products.

—This is a developing story and will be updated.