The iPhone maker has accused OpenAI of stealing hardware secrets via its former employees.
Apple has reportedly contacted around 40 of its former employees who now work for OpenAI, as it looks to gather evidence of alleged trade secrets theft by the AI juggernaut.
The iPhone maker launched a major lawsuit against OpenAI last week, accusing the company stealing hardware secrets from Apple via its former employees to develop its own line of devices.
Reports of OpenAI’s upcoming AI-powered smart speaker surfaced just days later. Sources told Bloomberg that the new device is designed to be a next-generation, ChatGPT-powered home computer – meant to be a physical embodiment of the AI chatbot.
In legal letters, Apple directed its ex-employees at OpenAI to collect and preserve certain documents. More than 400 former Apple workers are now employed at OpenAI.
In its lawsuit, Apple accused OpenAI of a “coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level”, alleging that the AI start-up instructed potential job candidates from Apple to bring design artefacts and prototypes to their interviews.
The lawsuit levelled accusations against two former Apple employees, including Io co-founder Tang Yew Tan, who currently serves as OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.
According to Apple, Tan had been “methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI”. He has been accused of directing job candidates still working at Apple to bring confidential physical parts from products under development for ‘show and tell’ sessions at OpenAI.
Tan co-founded Io alongside Apple design veteran Jony Ive, Scott Cannon and Evans Hankey in 2024, and led the line as its chief hardware officer. The hardware start-up was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5bn last year.
OpenAI already owned around 23pc of Io prior to the acquisition. Bloomberg reported that tensions between the companies worsened after OpenAI poached Ive to help with its product line.
Apple has been working on its AI offerings in hopes of catching up with its industry rivals. Earlier this year, reports emerged that suggested Apple was set to move away from ChatGPT exclusivity for its Siri voice assistant. The company was also reportedly developing three AI-infused wearables, including smart glasses, earlier this year.
Last month, it launched Siri AI, marketed as an “entirely new version of Siri”. The new AI agent can draw from messages, emails, photos and more from Apple devices to power new features across editing, communication and organisation.
The iPhone maker is also reportedly on the lookout to acquire AI chip companies in a bid to reduce its dependency on Nvidia. Meanwhile, it recently renewed its deal with Broadcom for custom-made chips through to 2031.
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