The wildest accusations in Apple’s trade secrets case against OpenAI

Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI is packed with a series of extraordinary allegations that paint a picture of a coordinated effort to extract confidential information from current and former Apple employees. But what is perhaps most striking is how casually the alleged wrongdoing is described, including a message that reads: “LOL I found out that I can access [network storage]so much fun.”

The 41-page complaint, filed Friday, is filled with unusually detailed allegations, like this one and others. Here are some that stood out the most to us:

• “Normalized and Exemplified by Leadership.” With this description of OpenAI, Apple makes it clear that their lawsuit is not only focused on rogue employees, but that abuses like this are part of OpenAI’s culture and are directed from the top.
• “Council to its core.” Leave it to Apple to work a rotten fruit analogy in its criticism of OpenAI’s behavior in this matter. The AI ​​model maker is rumored to be working on a hardware device to challenge the iPhone, potentially a smartphone unto itself. But Apple wants to stress that what OpenAI is developing was allegedly built with Apple’s trade secrets. “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” the complaint states.
• “This is the tip of the iceberg.” In addition to documenting the allegations against its former employees, Apple suggests that the alleged misconduct detailed in the complaint is only a fraction of what it will reveal after the discovery process gets underway. Discovery obtains corporate documents and communications, including texts and emails, potentially revealing other examples of this type of behavior at OpenAI. “The discovery will reveal that misappropriation has occurred on a scale many times greater than the several instances described below,” Apple’s complaint states.
• “LOL I found out I can access [network storage]so much fun.” Apple says that Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrician at Apple before joining OpenAI, sent this message to an Apple employee, Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, who was allegedly a conduit between Apple and OpenAI. Peng later left to join OpenAI himself, but is not a defendant in the lawsuit. Peng reportedly replied to the message: “I’m ready.” Apple alleges that Liu was able to access Apple’s systems by exploiting an authentication flaw, which he did from Peng’s Apple-issued work computer.
• “I still have another computer.” Liu also reportedly wrote this within hours of leaving Apple, referring to another Apple computer that he allegedly planned to use to access Apple’s confidential information. Apple discovered the message on Peng’s Apple-issued work laptop.
• “Didn’t even know we could take them from the office.” One of the wilder claims is that OpenAI job candidates working at Apple were instructed by OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, to bring “current parts” from Apple to their interviews at OpenAI for “show and tell sessions.” One candidate was surprised by the request and said he didn’t even realize Apple parts could be taken out of the office, Apple claims. Apple also says employees were instructed to bring “CAD/design artifacts” and “prototypes” to interviews.
• Avoid the “dreaded walkout”. Apple alleges that OpenAI coached departing Apple employees on how to bypass Apple’s security procedures to reduce the chance that their alleged trade secret theft would be caught. The complaint alleges that OpenAI circulated an internal Apple document with a “Need to know” designation to new hires detailing how to avoid the “dreaded walkout,” which would immediately remove them from Apple after giving notice, instead of allowing them to continue working for the typical two weeks, which would give them more time to access Apple’s confidential information.
• “Let OpenAI know ‘asap'” if you’re asked to sign anything when you leave Apple. The complaint alleges that in addition to helping OpenAI job candidates avoid Apple’s security procedures, if Apple asked departing employees to sign something at an exit interview, it should immediately notify OpenAI and advise them not to sign.
• “Over four hundred former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.” Another surprise: The complaint reveals the extent to which Apple employees have left the iPhone maker to work for OpenAI. Apple uses this number to paint a picture of the potential scope of the problem, noting that “it is not surprising that certain OpenAI employees are aware of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information that they are obligated to keep confidential. However, OpenAI has resorted to exploiting this confidential information…”
• “io … access, exploit and use Apple’s secret, proprietary industrial design techniques, processes and know-how related to metalworking.” The company io was founded by former Apple employees, including Jony Ive, and was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.5 billion deal. Now io is a defendant in this lawsuit, as Apple claims the company used its industrial design techniques by misleading Apple’s partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to perform a “confidential metalworking technique,” the complaint said. Apple also claims that OpenAI approached a supplier using their confidential information about designs and components related to power and batteries, even using “internal terminology” to ask targeted questions that “only Apple insiders would know to ask.”)
• “Apple has no choice.” Although it seems to be typical legal parlance, in this case it appears that Apple may have tried to resolve the situation out of court first. The tech giant says it first tried to contact OpenAI in February, voicing its concerns, but OpenAI never responded.

So far, OpenAI has only commented publicly via a statement shared on X on Friday, which reads: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”