OpenAI was scheduled to go to court on Wednesday regarding the trade secret lawsuit, but new allegations have led to the postponement of the trial. OpenAI stated that a counterclaim may be filed based on these new allegations.

On Wednesday, OpenAI submitted a new court document accusing a former employee of stealing over a hundred highly confidential documents related to unreleased devices before leaving the company, and then showing those product plans to Apple executives after joining Apple.

OpenAI indicates that this employee previously worked at Apple, then joined OpenAI for only about six months before returning to Apple again. OpenAI stated that on the day of leaving the company, this employee sent files to a personal account, which contained detailed images of unreleased devices as well as highly confidential engineering and manufacturing data.

OpenAI warns that its trade secrets may already be circulating within Apple.Apple engineers may influence Apple's upcoming products based on this.Mandatory requirements:

In response to this, Apple denies the allegations, stating that it has established strict policies to prevent new employees from misusing confidential information from their previous employers. Currently, Apple claims that no evidence supporting the OpenAI allegations has been found, and criticizes OpenAI for attempting to divert the focus of the lawsuit.

New allegations delay the trial; OpenAI claims or files a counterclaim

OpenAI indicates in the document that this new discovery stems from 'recent and ongoing evidence collection investigations' related to this case, and claims that communication has been established with Apple regarding this matter, but no clear assurance has been obtained from Apple that they 'do not hold or use the relevant documents'.

OpenAI also stated that a counterclaim may be filed based on the aforementioned new allegations.

In terms of the trial, Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. Federal District Court stated during this trial that,"Very likely"Supports requests from Apple, that is, to issue a ban to former Apple employees who are still employed at OpenAI, prohibiting them from using Apple's proprietary information.

At the same time, he holds a reserved attitude towards Apple's request for a comprehensive inspection of OpenAI devices and code repositories, stating that this is"Extremely stringent requirements"According to Bloomberg, Apple subsequently stated its willingness to narrow the scope of the investigation to at least a minority of the employees who resigned.

Origin of the lawsuit: Both parties accuse each other of stealing secrets, leading to a reversal of roles in the attack and defense

The new allegations come on top of a legal battle that has been ongoing for several months. In July this year, Apple took the lead in filing a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former employees, accusing them of stealing, among other things,"Dozens of confidential Apple hardware-related documents"including trade secrets.

Apple's complaint identifies two former employees involved in the case: the former senior systems electrical engineer Chang Liu, as well as the former vice presidents of product design, iPhone and Apple Watch, who are also named Tang Yew Tan.

Apple stated that after leaving the company, Chang Liu did not return the laptop provided by the company and continued to access confidential files by exploiting software vulnerabilities. He even left traces on his colleagues' work computers." LOL "Messages with such wording,"Celebration"His own unauthorized actions; Tang Yew Tan was accused of systematically sending supplier information to personal emails before leaving the job, in order to assist OpenAI.

Judge Davila partially approved Apple's request earlier this week, allowing Apple to retrieve data from the devices of former employees involved in the case, and conducted pre-trial evidence collection interviews with three former employees, including Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan.

OpenAI strongly denies the aforementioned accusations, claiming that Apple has not been able to specifically identify any stolen trade secrets to date, and has applied for the case to be dismissed.

AI In the context of hardware racing, a hidden struggle for talent is underway.

This dispute reflects the fierce competition between the two companies in the AI hardware sector. Apple released its smart home product “HomeView” this week, which represents its most significant move in the smart home market in nearly a decade and is also a core component of Apple’s AI strategy.

OpenAI is also stepping up efforts to develop its own AI hardware, which is reported to be a small smart speaker without a screen; last year, OpenAI acquired former Apple chief product designer Jonny Ive and his company io, taking full control of the company's design and creative functions.

The frequent turnover of engineers and researchers in Silicon Valley has long been a norm in the industry. However, Apple pointed out in court documents that OpenAI has recruited more than 400 former employees from Apple in total.

This counterclaim by OpenAI has made the intellectual property lawsuit, which was originally led by Apple, even more complex, and the legal tug-of-war between the two parties over the technical secrets of AI devices will continue to intensify.