Relations between Appleme OpenAI have changed beyond recognition over the past few months. Of the companies that still donelong ago collaborated on integration ChatGPT into the ecosystem Applu, gradually become rivals, their dispute gaining increasingly sharp turns. After Apple sued last week OpenAI due to alleged systematic misuse of trade secrets in the development of its own AI hardware, another significant step is coming. According to new information, it sent out Apple legal challenges to dozens of former employeesancwho work for today OpenAIThe company is demanding that they preserve all documents, emails, messages, and other communications that could be relevant to the ongoing legal proceedings. The case is starting to take on a much larger dimension than initially thought.
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Apple believes the problem goes much further
According to information from the newspaper FinancThe Times reports that the legal challenges involve approximately four dozen former employees.anců Applu who have moved to in recent years OpenAI. This is not a new lawsuit or a direct accusation of wrongdoing against these people. So-called “legal preservation letters” are a common part of American litigation and are intended to ensure that potentially important evidence is not deleted or destroyed. Addressees are urged to preserve all materials that could be related to the case under investigation.
But this step also suggests that Apple does not consider the case to be merely the failure of a few individuals. The company believes that the misuse of confidential information may have been more extensive and may have involved a larger number of former employees.ancthan the original lawsuit states. So far, the lawsuit has focused primarily on former longtime manager Tang Tan, who now heads the hardware division OpenAI, and engineer Chang Liu. Apple tvThey are accused of collecting non-public information about upcoming products, manufacturing processes, or the supply chain and using it to develop their own devices. OpenAI. OpenAI denies all allegations and has repeatedly stated that it has no interest in competitors' trade secrets and no evidence to support the claims AppShe didn't see it.
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Dispute could affect the future of AI hardware
The whole case is also important from a broader perspective. OpenAI namely after the acquisition of the company io, founded by the former chief designer Applu Jony Ive, is working intensively on its own AI device. This project Apple considers it to be direct competition for its future products and claims in its lawsuit that OpenAI benefited from confidential information obtained from former employees during its developmentanců Applu. If these claims are proven, it could significantly complicate the development of the upcoming hardware and bring OpenAI not only financial damages, but also a court ban on the use of certain technologies.
On the other hand, it is necessary to emphasize that this is still only the claim of one side of the dispute. Apple is now trying to secure as much evidence as possible before the trial itself and is currently sending out legal notices to former employeesancis part of this strategy. Whether systematic misuse of trade secrets can actually be proven will be decided by the court. However, it is already clear today that the relations between Appleme OpenAI have gone from a partnership to one of the biggest tech disputes in recent years in a matter of months. If the case continues at its current pace, we can expect more information to emerge in the coming weeks that could significantly impact not only both companies, but the entire AI hardware market.
