Apple Inc. escalated its legal battle against OpenAI, claiming in a new court filing that OpenAI is actively destroying crucial evidence and that former iPhone engineer Chang Liu “not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic but also used it in his work” at the AI company.
The court brief was filed Monday in support of Apple's motion for expedited pretrial fact-finding in the lawsuit, which accuses the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets. OpenAI has pushed to have the case dismissed.
Liu, who left Apple for OpenAI in January, is central to the case. He is one of more than 400 former Apple employees who went to work for the AI company, which is making a foray into the market for hardware devices.
According to the latest filing, OpenAI “only recently” provided a key piece of evidence: An Apple-issued MacBook that Liu had been using since departing the company. An initial forensic analysis has found that “Mr. Liu and others at OpenAI were well aware” of his continued unauthorized access to Apple's third-party cloud storage providers, the filing said.
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The laptop also contains evidence that Liu “sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply,” Apple's lawyers said.
A key part of Apple's original complaint accused OpenAI of encouraging Apple employees to share information, components, drawings and other materials related to unreleased products while taking steps to cover its tracks.
A representative for OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
OpenAI has maintained that it adhered to industrywide recruiting standards when interviewing candidates from Apple and insists that Liu was simply trying to help a former colleague at Apple when accessing the cloud data. It published text message excerpts to help bolster that argument.
Apple alleged in Monday's filing that OpenAI is dragging its feet on producing evidence. “The MacBook represents the very limited information defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting ‘fishing expeditions' but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed,” Apple's lawyers wrote.
The filing also claims that Liu “used a tool in his work at OpenAI that has the same name as an internal Apple engineering application used for Apple development work.”
Apple is seeking monetary damages and an order requiring OpenAI to halt the alleged conduct and destroy any proprietary materials. Earlier this month, Apple asked a federal judge to immediately order OpenAI to stop using stolen trade secrets.
The once-cordial working relationship between the iPhone maker and ChatGPT creator has frayed over the last year, particularly after OpenAI enlisted former Apple design guru Jony Ive to help develop upcoming hardware products.
The first device from that collaboration will be a doughnut-shaped smart speaker, roughly the size of a hockey puck, that includes moving parts to lend the gadget personality, Bloomberg News has reported.
The judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion on Oct. 1.
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