Apple has submitted new evidence in its legal case against OpenAI, alleging that a former employee stole confidential data for the company’s benefit. The evidence includes a laptop previously used by the employee, who now works at OpenAI, and claims that the employee used a confidential Apple circuit schematic in his work at the company. According to Apple’s filing, the former employee also used a tool with a name similar to an internal Apple engineering application. The company asserts that OpenAI was aware of the employee’s access to Apple data and that he enlisted a colleague to help destroy evidence when he learned of the investigation.
Apple’s legal filing states that the MacBook represents the limited information provided so far and that the company is not conducting a fishing expedition. The filing also notes that past evidence included text messages from the employee, which he punctuated with 'crying laughing' emojis, indicating his awareness of his continued access to Apple files. OpenAI has previously defended the employee, stating that he accessed Apple files after he stopped working there to help former colleagues. The company argued that Apple’s failure to manage system access properly when employees left caused the issue, and that the employee did not exploit any authentication bug.
Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI from working on hardware based on its technology while the case is ongoing. The company also wants expedited discovery to gather more evidence, as it alleges that more former employees may be implicated. According to Apple’s initial filing, more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. Source: techcrunch
