OpenAI says Apple’s own security practices undermine its trade secrets case
OpenAI is moving to dismiss Apple's trade secrets lawsuit by arguing that Apple's own lax security and offboarding procedures invalidate the protected status of the information. OpenAI claims Apple allowed employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work and failed to properly revoke access, suggesting the information was not treated as a trade secret.
Why it matters
This case tests the legal definition of trade secrets in the tech industry and how internal security failures can undermine intellectual property claims.
OpenAI’s motion to dismiss Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit, along with newly filed exhibits, reveals the company’s legal defense strategy. Rather than focusing on whether former Apple employees working at OpenAI had accessed certain information, the AI company argues that Apple’s own security practices and offboarding procedures weaken its claim that the information qualifies as legally protected “trade secrets.”
Apple’s complaint, filed in July , accuses OpenAI of orchestrating a scheme to obtain confidential hardware information from former Apple engineers. This week, Apple asked the court to expedite discovery , saying its internal investigation indicates some additional former employees may have participated in, or witnessed, the alleged theft of trade secrets.
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