Apple warns dozens of ex-staff now at OpenAI, report says
Apple sent preservation letters to about 40 former employees at OpenAI after suing over alleged trade secret misuse, according to the Financial Times.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
Apple has sent legal preservation letters to roughly 40 former employees who now work at OpenAI, according to the Financial Times, widening the spotlight around its trade secrets fight with the AI company.
The letters ask the former Apple workers to keep documents and communications that may matter to their old employer, the report said. The move comes after Apple filed a lawsuit last week accusing OpenAI of benefiting from confidential Apple information allegedly shared by two former Apple employees.
Apple’s lawsuit alleges that Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu, both now at OpenAI, shared Apple trade secrets after leaving the company. Apple claims that information was used by OpenAI as it works on consumer hardware products.
OpenAI has denied the allegations, according to Bloomberg. No response from Tan or Liu was reported.
Apple says the case may go wider
In its lawsuit, Apple said it believes the alleged conduct involving Tan and Liu is “just the tip of the iceberg.” The new letters suggest Apple may be looking beyond the two named former workers as the case develops, according to the Financial Times report.
The letters could also function as a formal warning to former Apple employees now inside OpenAI that their work may draw scrutiny from their previous employer. The Financial Times reported that the employees who received the letters could face discovery requests as the lawsuit continues.
Tan previously served as Apple’s vice president of product design and is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer. Liu was an iPhone engineer at Apple before leaving for OpenAI at the start of the year, according to the report.
Apple says more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI. The roughly 40 people who received preservation letters account for about 10 percent of that group.
The lawsuit lands as OpenAI pushes further beyond software and into hardware, a field where Apple has spent decades building closely guarded product, design and engineering systems. Apple’s allegations remain unproven, and OpenAI has rejected them.
For now, the preservation letters add another layer to the clash between two of tech’s most closely watched companies. Apple is seeking to protect what it describes as confidential company information, while OpenAI denies that the lawsuit has merit.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.