Apple Alleges Ex-Employee Used Secret Circuit Design at OpenAI, Seeking Injunction Over 400 Hires
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 1
Apple Alleges Ex-Employee Used Secret Circuit Design at OpenAI, Seeking Injunction Over 400 Hires
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 1
Summary
Apple told a court that newly examined data from former employee Chang Liu’s old work laptop shows he used a confidential Apple circuit schematic and a tool sharing the name of an internal engineering app at OpenAI.
The filing also alleges OpenAI knew Liu had access to Apple data and that Liu asked colleague Yu-Ting Peng in June to help destroy evidence after learning Apple was investigating him.
Apple says Liu’s continued access was not accidental residual access but the result of exploiting a rare authentication bug, countering OpenAI’s earlier claim that Apple simply failed to cut off departed workers.
Seeking a preliminary injunction and expedited discovery, Apple wants to block OpenAI from developing hardware based on its technology while it investigates whether more former employees were involved.
The case could widen: Apple’s initial complaint said more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, raising the stakes for OpenAI’s hardware ambitions.