Apple filed a theft of trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan in July, accusing them of using multiple methods to steal data from Apple. Liu kept an Apple-issued MacBook after he left for OpenAI, and Apple got it back after the lawsuit was filed. Apple now says forensic analysis of the laptop has uncovered more evidence of Liu’s use of Apple information and his attempts to hide what he’d done.
From the lawsuit:
- Mr. Liu not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic but also used it in his work at OpenAI;
- Far from his unauthorized access to Apple’s third-party cloud storage being unknown to him, Mr. Liu and others at OpenAI were well-aware of that access;
- Mr. Liu, upon learning of Apple’s internal investigation of him, sent instructions for destroying evidence to an OpenAI colleague who confirmed she would comply; and
- Mr. Liu used a tool in his work at OpenAI that has the same name as an internal Apple engineering application used for Apple development work.
Liu downloaded the circuit schematic from Apple in March, two months after he left the company. Liu used the schematic to run a simulation in electrical engineering tool LTspice, and then told other OpenAI employees he ran the simulation for power conversion development work. He did this on a Mac mini that synced to the MacBook he took from Apple, and Apple wants to investigate the Mac mini.
Apple says the “shocking evidence” is proof that its trade secrets are in active use and evidence is being destroyed, which is why expedited discovery is needed.
Apple initially asked for expedited discovery earlier this month, also requesting an injunction preventing OpenAI from using its trade secrets. OpenAI responded by asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the accusations were “meritless.”
This article, “Apple Says Former Engineer Used Stolen Trade Secrets at OpenAI, Taught AI Agent to Run Them” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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