Apple Orders 40 Ex-Employees at OpenAI to Preserve Records in Trade Secrets Suit
Updated
Updated · Computerworld · Jul 17
Apple Orders 40 Ex-Employees at OpenAI to Preserve Records in Trade Secrets Suit
3 articles · Updated · Computerworld · Jul 17
Summary
Around 40 former Apple employees now at OpenAI received legal hold letters ordering them to preserve messages, emails and documents tied to Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit.
The letters also require meetings with Apple’s lawyers and override normal deletion policies, making destruction of relevant material a legal risk as Apple probes whether misuse of confidential data was broader than a few hires.
Apple’s suit accuses OpenAI and former Apple vice president Tang Tan—now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer—of coordinated efforts to obtain internal Apple information, including project code names, and seeks to block any use of that information in hardware development.
OpenAI says it knows of no evidence supporting the claims and denies any interest in rivals’ trade secrets, but discovery could still complicate its hardware push and add scrutiny ahead of any future IPO.
The case could help define how far former employees can carry product, supply-chain and design knowledge between major tech rivals as AI hardware becomes a new competitive front.