❯ OpenAI accuses an ex-employee of taking unreleased device files to Apple, escalating their trade secrets fight

More than a hundred filesAccording to 9to5Mac, OpenAI said in a court filing on October 14 that a former employee, on his last day on June 2, sent more than a hundred highly confidential files about at least one unreleased device to personal accounts. The files include detailed device images, engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information, and reports on cosmetic coatings and sealing. Apple said it has found no evidence supporting the allegations.

From defendant to accuserThe employee moved from Apple to OpenAI, worked there about six months and then returned to Apple. OpenAI says he also presented OpenAI’s plans to Apple’s senior leadership, including its vice president of operations in Asia. The case began when Apple sued former employees in July, accusing them of stealing trade secrets for OpenAI; TechCrunch reports that a judge had already ordered OpenAI to hand over related hiring records.

The cost of hardware talent movingOpenAI wants Apple to assure it that Apple does not possess or use OpenAI’s trade secrets, and says Apple has not done so. Both companies are developing AI hardware and engineers are moving back and forth between them, so the outcome will directly shape how hardware teams recruit and vet new hires, and could slow both sides’ device development.

▮ SIGNALThe first front in the AI hardware race is not products but people: when the same engineers shuttle between rivals, every hire can become evidence.