简而言之 苹果起诉 OpenAI 和两名前员工，指控其窃取硬件商业机密。 诉状称，前苹果员工访问了 OpenAI 的机密文件、共享供应商信息并使用内部信息。 该诉讼是在 OpenAI 以 65 亿美元收购 Jony Ive 的硬件初创公司 io Products 后发生的。 苹果公司起诉 OpenAI 和两名前员工，指控 ChatGPT 制造商在其消费硬件项目中使用窃取的商业机密。 该诉状于周五向美国加利福尼亚州北区地方法院提起，起诉人包括前苹果高级系统电气工程师 Chang Liu、前 iPhone 和 Apple Watch 设计主管 Tang Yew Tan，以及 OpenAI 基金会、OpenAI Group PBC 和 io Products。 苹果公司指控刘在工作八年后于 1 月离开公司，未能归还公司笔记本电脑，后来通过身份验证错误访问了苹果的内部系统。
苹果律师在诉状中表示：“在 OpenAI 工作期间，刘先生还利用了一个罕见的、以前未知的身份验证漏洞来访问苹果的共享网络文件夹。” “在发现自己未经授权访问苹果系统后，刘先生没有报告此事，也没有归还被盗的苹果公司发放的工作笔记本电脑，也没有删除允许访问的程序。” 苹果公司指控刘下载了数十个机密硬件文件，包括有关未发布产品、工程演示、技术规格和专有项目数据的信息。 该公司还指控 Tan 在成为 OpenAI 首席硬件官之前在苹果工作了 24 年，利用他在苹果工作期间的机密信息为 OpenAI 谋取利益。 投诉称，Tan 在 OpenAI 采访中使用了苹果内部项目名称，并询问了未发布的产品。苹果还声称，候选人被要求携带“实际零件”，以进行“展示和讲述”。 苹果进一步声称，OpenAI 的招聘流程要求提供“CAD/设计工件”、原型、供应商信息以及员工在苹果硬件上工作的详细信息。
苹果和 OpenAI 没有立即回应 的置评请求。 该诉讼是在 OpenAI 以 64 亿美元收购 io Products 后发生的，io Products 是由前苹果设计师 Jony Ive 创立的硬件初创公司。投诉中没有提到艾维的名字。 文件显示，OpenAI 的硬件部门已雇佣了 400 多名前苹果员工。苹果声称，它在 2 月份联系了 OpenAI，担心机密信息进入该公司，但没有收到回复。 这一消息是在 OpenAI 和埃隆·马斯克 (Elon Musk) 的 xAI 之间发生单独的商业秘密纠纷之后发布的。 9 月，xAI 起诉 OpenAI，指控 ChatGPT 制造商招募前员工以获取机密源代码、培训方法和数据中心策略。 OpenAI 否认了这些指控，一名联邦法官在 6 月份驳回了诉讼，认为 xAI 未能证明 OpenAI 鼓励一名前员工披露机密信息。 该诉讼是苹果与 OpenAI 早期关系的一个明显转折点。
2024 年，作为 Apple Intelligence 计划的一部分，Apple 利用 OpenAI 将 ChatGPT 引入 Siri。然而，今年早些时候，在延迟推出后，苹果公司转向谷歌的 Gemini 为其下一代人工智能模型提供支持。 每日简报时事通讯 每天从当前的热门新闻报道以及原创专题、播客、视频等开始。
In brief
Apple sued OpenAI and two former employees, alleging theft of hardware trade secrets.
The complaint claims former Apple employees accessed confidential files, shared supplier information, and used internal information at OpenAI.
The lawsuit follows OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s hardware startup io Products.
Apple has sued OpenAI and two former employees, accusing the ChatGPT maker of using stolen trade secrets for its consumer hardware efforts.
The complaint, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names former Apple senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu and former iPhone and Apple Watch design executive Tang Yew Tan, along with OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products.
Apple alleges Liu, who left the company in January after eight years, failed to return a company laptop and later accessed Apple’s internal systems through an authentication bug.
“While employed by OpenAI, Mr. Liu also exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug to access Apple’s shared network folders,” Apple’s attorneys said in the complaint. “Upon discovering that he had this unauthorized access to Apple’s systems, Mr. Liu did not report it, return his stolen Apple-issued work laptop, or delete the program that allowed the access.”
Apple alleges Liu downloaded dozens of confidential hardware files, including information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.
The company also alleges Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple before becoming OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, used confidential information from his time at Apple to benefit OpenAI.
The complaint claims Tan used Apple's internal project names during OpenAI interviews and asked about unreleased products. Apple also alleges candidates were told to bring “actual parts,” for “show and tell.”
Apple further claims OpenAI’s recruiting process requested “CAD/design artifacts,” prototypes, supplier information, and details about employees’ work on Apple hardware.
Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment by .
The lawsuit follows OpenAI’s $6.4 billion acquisition of io Products, the hardware startup founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive. Ive is not named in the complaint.
According to the filing, OpenAI’s hardware division has hired more than 400 former Apple employees. Apple claims it contacted OpenAI in February with concerns about confidential information entering the company but did not receive a response.
The news comes after a separate trade secret dispute between OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI. In September, xAI sued OpenAI, alleging the ChatGPT maker recruited former employees to obtain confidential source code, training methods, and data center strategies.
OpenAI denied the allegations, and a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in June, finding xAI failed to show OpenAI encouraged a former employee to disclose confidential information.
The lawsuit is a stark pivot from Apple and OpenAI’s earlier relationship.
In 2024, Apple tapped OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to Siri as part of its Apple Intelligence initiative. However, earlier this year, Apple turned to Google’s Gemini to power its next generation of AI models after delays stalled the rollout.
