OpenAI wants Apple’s trade-secrets case thrown out before the companies move deeper into discovery.
On Aug. 5, the ChatGPT maker asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two former Apple employees of misappropriating confidential information to accelerate its consumer-hardware plans. OpenAI argues that Apple failed to identify legally protectable trade secrets or plausibly show that the defendants misused them.
“OpenAI has no use, need or desire for Apple’s trade secrets. OpenAI is building something entirely new and different from anything at Apple,” the company said in its motion, according to Reuters.
Beyond the companies’ competing hardware ambitions, the case raises a familiar concern for technology employers: how to protect sensitive information when sought-after employees move between rivals.
Apple says it is protecting its innovations
Apple has accused OpenAI of orchestrating a campaign to obtain confidential hardware information through job candidates and former employees, including two individuals named in the lawsuit. The company is also seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent OpenAI from using any alleged trade secrets while the case moves forward.
In a statement previously released when the lawsuit was filed, Apple said: “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.”
Apple added that it would continue defending “our teams’ hard work and innovations” and pursue appropriate legal action.
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A fight over the next generation of devices
The dispute goes beyond employee departures. Analysts believe OpenAI is developing its own phone or other AI-focused hardware, putting it in direct competition with Apple over devices that could eventually reduce the importance of traditional apps and operating systems.
The dispute is especially significant because OpenAI and Apple currently have a partnership that brings ChatGPT capabilities into Apple products, including Siri. But tensions have increased as OpenAI expands into hardware, including through its work with former Apple design leader Jony Ive and its hiring of hundreds of former Apple employees.
OpenAI has until Aug. 17 to respond formally to Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction, and a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1 in federal court in San Jose, California.
Read next: Apple faces another major legal challenge as its Photos privacy case advances, with plaintiffs alleging potential exposure of up to $32.5 billion.