Apple accused OpenAI on Friday of stealing secrets about products still in development, setting up a legal face-off between two of the world\u2019s biggest tech companies.<\/p>\n
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the consumer tech giant said OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence that has a new hardware business, had asked job candidates from Apple to share details about secret projects and to bring device components and prototypes to their interviews.<\/p>\n
Apple also accused an OpenAI employee of downloading internal documents from a laptop owned by the iPhone maker. That employee and OpenAI\u2019s top hardware executive were named as defendants in the suit. Both used to work at Apple.<\/p>\n
OpenAI used the confidential information to approach Apple\u2019s manufacturing partners, including asking one partner to demonstrate Apple\u2019s technique for finishing metal on its devices, the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n
Apple sent a letter to OpenAI in February to raise concerns that confidential information could be \u201cmaking its way to OpenAI\u2019s business improperly,\u201d according to the suit. OpenAI did not respond, Apple said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpenAI\u2019s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,\u201d Apple wrote in its lawsuit.<\/p>\n
OpenAI pushed back against the accusations in a statement. \u201cWe have no interest in other companies\u2019 trade secrets,\u201d a spokesman, Drew Pusateri, said. \u201cWe remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
(The New York Times has sued<\/a> OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied those claims.)<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s lawsuit against OpenAI sharply escalates tensions between the two tech titans, whose high-profile partnership had already begun to unravel.<\/p>\n Apple remains largely on the sidelines of A.I., even as other technology giants spend hundreds of billions of dollars building A.I. models and data centers and as start-ups push the envelope on the technology.<\/p>\n To help catch up, Apple struck a deal with OpenAI in 2024<\/a> to use the A.I. start-up\u2019s technology to overhaul its products, including its digital assistant, Siri. But OpenAI grew disappointed by how Apple integrated ChatGPT, and has even considered legal action<\/a>. In January, Apple said it was teaming up with Google to power Siri and its other A.I. products.<\/p>\n Adding to the tension, OpenAI, which has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, is creating a new family of hardware products itself.<\/p>\n Sam Altman, OpenAI\u2019s chief executive, has long held ambitions to produce A.I.-powered devices. The nascent technology can be worn like jewelry or placed in a pocket \u2014 offering users features like audio and video recording, or responses to voice commands.<\/p>\n Mr. Altman previously backed a now defunct start-up called Humane<\/a>, which built an A.I. device that users pinned to their clothing.<\/p>\n