Big Tech Confronts 1,500 Trade-Secret Cases as AI Raises Espionage Stakes
Updated
Updated · CNN · Nov 10
Big Tech Confronts 1,500 Trade-Secret Cases as AI Raises Espionage Stakes
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 10
Summary
US federal courts logged a record 1,500 trade-secret cases last year as Big Tech reports a widening wave of corporate espionage tied to increasingly valuable AI and chip technology.
Nvidia is investigating reports of a foreign surveillance effort, while recent incidents at OpenAI, Google and Apple show both foreign and domestic actors targeting Silicon Valley through insiders as well as cyber intrusions.
Security experts say human espionage is gaining weight because insiders can identify which secrets matter, access routine documents without triggering alarms and exploit trust that phishing defenses cannot stop.
Many cases likely stay hidden because US law relies heavily on company self-reporting, while lawsuits can expose sensitive information, cost millions and signal to investors that critical secrets were lost.