Apple accused OpenAI on Friday of telling Apple employees interviewing for jobs to bring confidential prototypes, engineering artifacts and hardware components to interviews as part of an effort to accelerate the artificial intelligence company's push into consumer devices.
The allegation is among the most explosive claims in a sweeping trade secrets lawsuit Apple filed in federal court against OpenAI, former Apple executives and engineers, accusing them of systematically misappropriating confidential information to build OpenAI's hardware business.
"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," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business.
"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."
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