Apple Seeks Injunction Against OpenAI Over Trade Secrets — SkimNews
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- Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop OpenAI from developing an AI device or other products based on Apple's technology, and is requesting expedited discovery from accused employees Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI, its foundation, and io.
- Apple claims its investigation has identified 11 other former employees beyond Liu and Tan who may have been witnesses or otherwise involved in the alleged trade secrets theft.
- New evidence cited by Apple includes a former employee who met with Liu and Yu-Ting Peng before Peng's OpenAI interview to discuss Apple proprietary information about unannounced products, and another who took screenshots of confidential Apple documents before interviewing at OpenAI.
- After Apple filed its original complaint, multiple former employees now working at OpenAI reached out about returning Apple-issued work devices they had kept when they left, according to the filing.
- OpenAI publicly responded that Apple's injunction request is "based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets."
- OpenAI also pushed back on Apple's process, noting Apple once emailed the wrong person when contacting OpenAI due to confused similar surnames, alleging Apple lied about discussing matters with its general counsel, and claiming Apple failed to admit that "residual access" issues stemmed from poor security on Apple's own end.
Why it matters: If the court grants even expedited discovery, OpenAI's consumer AI device ambitions — built around the io acquisition co-founded by Jony Ive — face a legal drag that could constrain or delay development. OpenAI's public counterpunch attacks not just the factual basis but Apple's own security hygiene, setting up a credibility fight that could shape how courts view the underlying theft claims.
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