Here’s an interesting new development related to Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI: more than half a dozen former Apple employees told The Information (as noted by AppleInsider) that documents shared with them during their employment remained accessible after Apple cut off most of their corporate access.
Some continued receiving notifications when the files were updated, the article adds. The documents purportedly included confidential material such as plans for product launch events. The former employees said they made no effort to retain access and unexpectedly found the files mixed with their personal iCloud data.
According to The Information, the issue is due to Apple’s practice of encouraging employees to connect their personal Apple IDs to company-funded iCloud storage. Apple reportedly gave employees 2TB of storage and allowed them to merge it with an existing personal plan.
It’s not clear how this revelation will affect Apple’s claim that ex-employees are leaking company secrets to Open AI. has sent legal preservation letters to about 40 former employees now working at OpenAI.
The letters tell the former employee to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as part of Apple’s lawsuit against AI. In the filing, the tech giant says it’s concerned about data that OpenAI and the named co-defendants have already deleted. There are purportedly over 400 ex-Apple employees presently working at OpenAI.
In the lawsuit filed with the Northern District of California, last week, Apple says it’s uncovered evidence of a months-long scheme to steal confidential information. The company says OpenAI hardware lead and former Apple designer Tang Tan and former electrical engineer Chang Liu directed Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI to provide details on unreleased devices, components, manufacturing processes, and vendor relationships.
Here’s what Apple said in a statement to MacRumors: 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. 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. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.
And from the lawsuit:
OpenAI also instructs new hires on how to avoid scrutiny when they leave Apple. For example, Mr. Tan warns them not to tell Apple that they have taken jobs at OpenAI, so they can stay at Apple as long as they can. After his own departure, Mr. Tan improperly retained or obtained an internal Apple managers’ document marked “Need to Know” that describes security procedures for employee departures. Messages left on Apple-issued work devices show that Mr. Tan and his OpenAI colleagues have been sharing this document with new hires before they give notice to Apple of their departures, previewing Apple’s security protocols. Unsurprisingly, Apple’s investigation has found a pattern by employees who depart for OpenAI of taking steps to evade the security processes intended to protect Apple’s confidential information.
In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told MacRumors that, “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
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