Apple seeks preliminary injunction in trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI as the AI company defends its hardware expansion.
Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent OpenAI from developing products based on its proprietary technology. The iPhone maker filed a motion requesting expedited discovery from OpenAI, senior systems engineer Chang Liu, Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, and the startup io. Apple claims that the misconduct involves more former employees than originally stated, alleging that several others were involved in the theft of its intellectual property. OpenAI responded by publicly challenging the lawsuit, calling it "careless, aggressive and oddly personal." The AI company argues that it does not possess Apple's trade secrets and claims Apple made several factual errors, including confusing two employees with similar names. OpenAI also released iMessage exchanges from Chang Liu, which show that Apple employees relied on his access to internal systems after he left the company, suggesting that the remaining access was a result of Apple's own offboarding process rather than deliberate theft. While Apple seeks to limit OpenAI's hardware efforts, OpenAI maintains its focus on pushing the frontier of innovative technology.