“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.

“Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products,” the spokesperson added. “We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”

Apple is requesting a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the theft and force OpenAI to return confidential information on the technology giant’s unreleased products and components. The plaintiff is also seeking an unspecified amount of damages pending trial.

The two individual defendants listed in the complaint, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, allegedly committed “wrongful acts” within the Northern District of California. The headquarters of Apple and OpenAI fall under the federal district.

Liu, once a senior electrical system engineer for Apple, is accused of using a company-issued work laptop to access confidential files that included “voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data,” according to the court document.

Furthermore, Liu coached his former Apple co-worker, whom he was trying to recruit for OpenAI, on how to bypass Apple’s security processes while copying confidential files. He also advised the colleague on how to answer job interview questions about Apple technology. That colleague is named Yu-Ting Peng, but she is not listed as one of the defendants.

“OpenAI has actively coached Apple employees on how to manage their exits from Apple in ways that avoid scrutiny,” the lawsuit reads. “This helps OpenAI’s new hires evade Apple’s security procedures and reduce the chance that their confidentiality violations and trade secret theft would be detected.”

For his part in the alleged misconduct, Tan asked job candidates about unannounced Apple products and instructed them to bring in parts from the tech company for “show and tell” sessions. At least one of the candidates was surprised by the request, per the complaint. The executive also told new hires to refrain from telling Apple about their OpenAI jobs, so that “they can stay at Apple as long as they can.”

At Apple, Tan served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch before joining OpenAI as its chief hardware officer.

The discovery process will be used to uncover evidence of the trade secret misappropriations “to the extent [the defendants] have not concealed or destroyed” the evidence.

“Apple does not bring this action lightly,” the court filing reads. “Apple operates in the most competitive markets in the world and focuses on creating and shipping the very best products and services that embody its innovations. But it cannot tolerate the theft of its trade secrets. In light of the troubling evidence it has seen so far, Apple is left with no choice. This lawsuit and the discovery process are needed to expose and begin to remedy the pervasive theft of Apple’s trade secrets.”

AOC WANTS TO ‘BREAK UP’ TECH GIANTS AFTER APPLE HIKES PRICES

Notably, Apple has integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its operating systems for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. OpenAI was reportedly considering suing Apple back in May over its strained partnership.

Meanwhile, both Apple and OpenAI are the subjects of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X Corp. and xAI last year. The latter business merged with SpaceX earlier this year, and the combined entity rebranded itself as SpaceXAI this week. Musk accused Apple and OpenAI of suppressing generative AI competition through their partnership and manipulating App Store rankings of AI chatbot competitors, such as SpaceXAI’s Grok model.