AI giant, bad surprise! Just now, Apple took action!
The IPO is about to come, but the technology giant OpenAI is entangled in lawsuits, casting a shadow on the road to listing. According to news on July 11, Beijing time, Apple suddenly sued OpenAI, accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets. This lawsuit may affect the OpenAI hardware plan and cooperation between the two parties. Apple’s lawsuit may also become another obstacle in OpenAI’s plan to go public. OpenAI secretly submitted its IPO application documents last month. Later, it was reported that OpenAI was inclined to postpone the IPO to next year in order to hit a trillion-dollar valuation. Apple sues OpenAI On Friday local time, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former employees, accusing it of misappropriating Apple’s trade secrets to help the ChatGPT parent company enter the consumer hardware field. The move dramatically escalated an already tense relationship between the two companies. The indictment alleges that OpenAI orchestrated a broad campaign through former employees, recruiting tactics and supplier relationships to systematically obtain and exploit Apple's confidential information to accelerate the development of its consumer hardware business. OpenAI said in a statement: "We are not interested in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technologies that empower users around the world." Reuters pointed out that this lawsuit will trigger a battle, focusing on the ownership of control of future AI equipment. Such devices may not use traditional apps or operating systems — and if successful, they could divert consumers' attention away from Apple's best-selling iPhone. Analysts believe that OpenAI is developing its own mobile phone or other devices. Tensions between the two technology companies have strained their partnership as the race to develop AI products intensifies competition for talent and know-how. PP Foresight analyst Paul Pescatore said: "Apple sees OpenAI transforming from a partner to a potential rival, while OpenAI tries to reduce its reliance on the iPhone and establish a direct connection with consumers. Even if these accusations are not proven, the lawsuit could delay OpenAI's hardware ambitions and further weaken an already fragile partnership." Apple has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Not long ago, OpenAI had just successfully responded to a legal challenge from Elon Musk’s xAI. Two former Apple employees named in the lawsuit are: former senior systems electrical engineer Chang Liu, and former vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch Tang Yew Tan. Neither man immediately responded to a request for comment. The iPhone maker also claims that OpenAI hardware chief Tang Yew Tan "deliberately exploited Apple's confidential information to benefit OpenAI" by emailing him information about Apple suppliers and internal industry summaries before he left. According to Tang Yew Tan's LinkedIn profile, he has spent most of his 24 years at Apple working on iPhones. Apple accuses Tang Yew Tan of encouraging Apple employees to bring company parts to OpenAI interviews for "show and introduction." In one instance cited in the complaint, an OpenAI job applicant said, "I didn't know we could take this out of the office." The OpenAI Foundation, the company's commercial arm OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products, which OpenAI acquired, are also named as defendants. Expert: "It could become a very big case" According to Reuters, Apple stated in its complaint that the company sent a letter to OpenAI in February this year to express concerns about the possible flow of its confidential information to OpenAI and requested a discussion, but did not receive a reply. Apple said in the filing that more than 400 former Apple employees currently work for OpenAI, adding that it was "not surprising" that some of them knew its confidential information.
"OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple's trade secrets, but that does not mean OpenAI has the right to use that information to launch its hardware business," the iPhone maker wrote in the complaint. Apple also accuses OpenAI employees of soliciting confidential information from Apple suppliers, alleging that in one case, OpenAI had a supplier perform what Apple said was a secret metal surface treatment technology that OpenAI thought had Apple's permission. Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, said Apple's complaint "has the potential to be a very big case," but that some of Apple's claims, such as the fact that OpenAI employs hundreds of Apple employees, are not illegal in California. Silicon Valley's rise was helped in part by state laws that allowed employees to leave for competitors. "But if Apple's claims that employees took away confidential documents and OpenAI was using those documents are true, that would be a problem for OpenAI," Lemley said. Camila Herdy, a law professor at Rutgers University School of Law, said the case could be complicated because most previous cases involving AI and trade secrets have involved software, not hardware. "This type of trade secret litigation often arises in the technology field, and as the case progresses, we usually learn more details. OpenAI is not a defendant who is unable to defend itself," Hurdy said. Apple and OpenAI initially seemed poised for a fruitful partnership. In 2024, Apple launched a version of the Apple Intelligence platform integrated with OpenAI's ChatGPT software. But relations between the two parties have since deteriorated. OpenAI has reportedly threatened to sue Apple over the way it integrated ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. Apple plans to relaunch a version of its Siri voice assistant later this year that will use OpenAI rival Google's Gemini AI platform.
"OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple's trade secrets, but that does not mean OpenAI has the right to use that information to launch its hardware business," the iPhone maker wrote in the complaint. Apple also accuses OpenAI employees of soliciting confidential information from Apple suppliers, alleging that in one case, OpenAI had a supplier perform what Apple said was a secret metal surface treatment technology that OpenAI thought had Apple's permission. Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, said Apple's complaint "has the potential to be a very big case," but that some of Apple's claims, such as the fact that OpenAI employs hundreds of Apple employees, are not illegal in California. Silicon Valley's rise was helped in part by state laws that allowed employees to leave for competitors. "But if Apple's claims that employees took away confidential documents and OpenAI was using those documents are true, that would be a problem for OpenAI," Lemley said. Camila Herdy, a law professor at Rutgers University School of Law, said the case could be complicated because most previous cases involving AI and trade secrets have involved software, not hardware. "This type of trade secret litigation often arises in the technology field, and as the case progresses, we usually learn more details. OpenAI is not a defendant who is unable to defend itself," Hurdy said. Apple and OpenAI initially seemed poised for a fruitful partnership. In 2024, Apple launched a version of the Apple Intelligence platform integrated with OpenAI's ChatGPT software. But relations between the two parties have since deteriorated. OpenAI has reportedly threatened to sue Apple over the way it integrated ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. Apple plans to relaunch a version of its Siri voice assistant later this year that will use OpenAI rival Google's Gemini AI platform.