Tech giant Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company and two former Apple employees of stealing trade secrets.
The suit alleges OpenAI and the former staff members worked to poach Apple employees and obtain confidential information on Apple's hardware.
Apple claims former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu left the company in January, discovered an authentication bug, and downloaded dozens of confidential files. The lawsuit also accuses OpenAI's chief hardware officer, Tang Yew Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who was vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, of emailing himself confidential supplier information before his departure.
Apple described its findings as the "tip of the iceberg," stating it lacks visibility into OpenAI's operations. It claims OpenAI's hardware business is "rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets."
An OpenAI spokesperson stated the company has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets" and remains focused on building innovative technology.
The lawsuit comes as OpenAI has teased a new hardware product, the Codex Micro, a small programmable macro pad scheduled for a July release.