Apple believes its ex-employees are taking some very valuable souvenirs with them on their way out the door.
Driving the news: Apple levied new accusations against OpenAI, alleging the AI startup was well aware that former employees — including its chief hardware officer Tang Tan — had stolen trade secrets, data, and even hardware when they left. Over 400 ex-Apple employees now work at OpenAI.
The new details came directly from the laptop of former hardware developer (and current OpenAI employee) Chang Liu, who was forced to hand over the device to Apple as part of its lawsuit.
OpenAI denied the allegations, saying that Apple’s lawsuit is merely designed to slow down their product development and stop talent from joining OpenAI. The AI company added that Apple’s poor offboarding policies are to blame for the data breaches (those are real fighting words in Silicon Valley).
Why it matters: The legal challenge could delay or even stop OpenAI from dropping its first devices, one of which is expected to be a direct challenger to the iPhone. For Apple — which makes about half of its revenue from iPhones — the spying allegations will at least buy it some time to play catch-up with its AI features before OpenAI’s products hit the market.
Our take: In the cutthroat AI talent race, where engineers are paid nine-figure salaries, it’s certainly not out of the question that poached employees are being asked to bring more than their big brains.—LA
