Apple Unveils Surprising Proof Against Ex-Employee Charged with Data Theft for OpenAI
In its legal action against OpenAI, Apple has presented what it refers to as “shocking evidence” to support its claims that previous employees misappropriated trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI. This information emerged after legal representatives for Chang Liu, a former Apple employee now employed by OpenAI, submitted Liu’s old Apple work laptop for examination earlier this month.
Apple contends that Liu utilized a proprietary circuit schematic from Apple in his endeavors at OpenAI and also employed a tool that shares its name with an internal application developed by Apple. The company asserts that OpenAI was “fully aware” of Liu’s access to Apple information and that Liu collaborated with OpenAI associate Yu-Ting Peng to eliminate evidence in June, upon realizing that Apple was scrutinizing him.
“The MacBook exemplifies the scant information the Defendants have shared up to this point (and only after considerable delay), and indicates that Apple is not engaged in ‘fishing expeditions,’ but rather that its trade secrets are being utilized and that evidence is being tampered with,” states the court filing.
Although this new evidence is blacked out from public disclosure, previous filings from Apple have shown text messages from Liu—emphasized with “crying laughing” emojis—demonstrating his awareness of still having access to Apple’s files.
OpenAI had previously defended Liu, stating he only accessed Apple files after leaving the company to assist former colleagues who sought his help. “Apple is attempting to shift the blame to ‘residual access,’ yet they fail to acknowledge that this is a widespread issue at Apple stemming from their inadequate management of system access when employees depart,” OpenAI stated in a blog post earlier this month.
In contrast, Apple argues that Liu maintained access by “exploiting a rare, previously unknown authentication bug.”
TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for commentary regarding Apple’s latest claims.
Apple is pursuing a preliminary injunction—a judicial order that would prevent OpenAI from developing hardware that utilizes Apple’s technology during the ongoing case—as well as expedited discovery, a quicker method for gathering evidence, since the company asserts that additional former employees could also be involved.
Apple’s initial legal filing indicated that over 400 former Apple employees are currently employed at OpenAI.
