IT之家 October 15 news: According to Bloomberg, while the legal dispute between the two companies is being heard, OpenAI has agreed not to use trade secrets that Apple claims were stolen by employees who jumped from Apple to the AI startup.
The ChatGPT developer made this commitment voluntarily at a court hearing on local Wednesday. At the hearing, the federal judge said he was "highly likely" to side with Apple and issue an injunction against OpenAI. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila has the authority to enforce the agreement, which also requires OpenAI to collect forensic images from the devices of 14 employees that may contain Apple's confidential information.
For OpenAI, the agreement spared it the negative fallout of losing outright in its first substantive court clash with Apple. The startup, led by Sam Altman, was accused in the lawsuit Apple filed in July. Apple claims OpenAI conspired to steal intellectual property related to products under development and used that information to advance the development of its own competing devices.
In effect, the agreement largely satisfies Apple's core demand made to Davila: ensuring that OpenAI may not use Apple's proprietary information in its own technology development.
The hearing took place in San Jose, California. The judge said he would not grant all of Apple's requests, and that Apple's demand for a forensic investigation of all devices and repositories holding Apple's trade secrets sounded "overly burdensome."
Apple's lawyer John M. Desmarais responded that the company would limit the investigation to the small number of employees who moved to OpenAI. He said: "Your Honor, they don't have four hundred problem employees, just a few people, and it's clear who they are."
Although the two sides reached a partnership two years ago to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's software, tension between the companies has persisted for months. The dispute erupted after hundreds of Apple employees jumped ship to join OpenAI. With OpenAI currently chasing a US$1.4 trillion valuation (IT之家 note: about RMB 9.39 trillion at current exchange rates) as it prepares to go public, the lawsuit also casts a shadow over the startup.
In its complaint, Apple alleges that OpenAI, its hardware chief, and a former Apple iPhone hardware engineer conspired to obtain confidential information from former Apple employees about product design, manufacturing, component technology, testing methods, and the supply chain.
Apple contends that OpenAI is using this information to "advance its own plans to enter the consumer hardware market."
OpenAI firmly denies the allegations. The startup believes Apple filed the lawsuit to restrict employees from moving to competitors, and is attempting to frame "ordinary job interviews as acts of trade secret theft."
In a court filing submitted in October, OpenAI stated: "OpenAI is developing a completely new line of devices for the AI era. OpenAI has no need for, and no intention of acquiring, Apple's trade secrets."
Bloomberg previously reported that OpenAI's first consumer hardware product is a ring-shaped smart speaker priced at over US$300 (about RMB 2,012 at current exchange rates). People inside the company believe it is a completely new AI-centered device, unlike anything Apple is about to launch.
Hours before Wednesday's hearing began,OpenAI in turn filed accusations against Apple. In a court filing, OpenAI said that a former employee who first jumped from Apple to OpenAI and then returned to Apple sent "over a hundred highly confidential documents" about at least one unreleased OpenAI device to personal accounts.
OpenAI said these documents contained images of unreleased hardware, engineering and manufacturing data, and supplier information. The filing also stated that the former employee had shown OpenAI's product plans to Apple executives. OpenAI asked the judge for time to investigate whether Apple holds or uses this information, and, if so, to allow the company to file a counterclaim.
Apple responded that it already has policies in place to prevent the use of a former employer's confidential information, that it has found no evidence supporting OpenAI's allegations, and that the AI company is merely trying to divert attention from the "substantial evidence" that its employees took Apple product materials.
The case is Apple v. Liu, case number 5:26-cv-07078, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose).