Apple has sued OpenAI in California, accusing former Apple employees of passing confidential information to a ChatGPT developer during recruitment and after joining the company.
In a filing submitted to a federal court in the US state of California, Apple alleges that OpenAI pursued a strategy aimed at obtaining confidential information from the iPhone maker.
According to CNBC, the court document states: “One thing is clear: at every level, from engineering staff to the Chief Hardware Officer and in collaborations with business partners, OpenAI has stolen Apple trade secrets and confidential information.”
Apple claims the information was used to help develop AI devices.
Among those accused is OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, Tang Tan, a former senior Apple executive. Apple alleges he instructed Apple employees to disclose trade secrets during the recruitment process.
OpenAI rejected the allegations in a statement to Bloomberg, saying it has no interest in other companies’ secrets.
The company said it remains focused on developing innovative technology “that enables people around the world to achieve more.”
Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership in 2024 to integrate artificial intelligence into iPhones and other Apple devices.
Under that arrangement, Apple users can send general questions that Siri cannot answer to ChatGPT.
Bloomberg reported that OpenAI had considered suing Apple several months ago for breach of contract, because the partnership had not developed as well as the company had expected.
