Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former employees for the theft of hardware trade secrets. The company accuses OpenAI of systematically stealing its intellectual property and conspiring with former staff to obtain proprietary information.
The complaint reads like a corporate spy thriller, containing allegations that range from employees joking about unauthorized access to Apple's systems to claims that job candidates were asked to bring Apple hardware to "show and tell" interviews. In one instance, an engineer reportedly kept his work laptop, and messages between colleagues included jokes about the situation.
While the legal battle may not reach a courtroom for years, the lawsuit threatens to disrupt OpenAI's ambitions regarding device development.
In a separate matter, OpenAI has asked a judge to find that a trade secret theft lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's xAI Corp should never have been filed. OpenAI is seeking to recoup more than $1 million in legal expenses from the company.