Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets
Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets
苹果起诉 OpenAI，指控其窃取硬件机密
Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple. 苹果公司声称，他们发现前苹果员工在加入 OpenAI 后存在“窃取模式”。
Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging that engineers stole Apple secrets to advance the AI startup’s hardware plans. In its complaint, Apple says it uncovered “a pattern of theft of Apple’s trade secrets by OpenAI employees who were formerly at Apple.” In addition to OpenAI, the lawsuit also names IO Products — Jony Ive’s hardware startup, which OpenAI bought in 2025 — along with two specific employees, Tang Tan (OpenAI’s chief hardware officer) and Chang Liu (who joined OpenAI from Apple in January). 苹果公司已对 OpenAI 提起诉讼，指控其工程师窃取苹果机密，以推进这家 AI 初创公司的硬件计划。在诉状中，苹果表示其发现了“前苹果员工在 OpenAI 工作期间窃取苹果商业机密的模式”。除 OpenAI 外，该诉讼还点名了 IO Products（乔尼·艾维的硬件初创公司，于 2025 年被 OpenAI 收购），以及两名特定员工：唐·坦（Tang Tan，OpenAI 首席硬件官）和刘畅（Chang Liu，于今年 1 月从苹果跳槽至 OpenAI）。
An Apple spokesperson shared this statement with 9to5Mac: 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. 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. 苹果公司发言人向 9to5Mac 发表了以下声明：“在苹果，我们的团队不断开发突破性技术，以创造世界上最好的产品和服务，我们非常重视保护他们的工作成果和知识产权。最近，有重要证据表明，OpenAI 的雇员非法获取了苹果关于未发布技术、流程和产品的秘密及机密信息。我们将始终捍卫团队的辛勤工作和创新成果，并正在采取一切适当措施来实现这一目标。”
Liu is accused of accessing Apple’s systems after leaving the company and downloading information, including “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.” He is also said to have instructed a former Apple colleague on how to copy confidential Apple files and “avoid trouble” with the company’s security team ahead of her joining OpenAI. Liu allegedly told her they should communicate over Line Messenger to avoid being detected. 刘畅被指控在离职后访问苹果系统并下载信息，其中包括“数十份苹果机密的硬件相关文件，涵盖了关于未发布产品、工程演示文稿、技术规格和专有项目数据的海量详细信息”。据称，他还曾指导一名苹果前同事如何在加入 OpenAI 前复制苹果机密文件并“避开”公司安全团队的审查。刘畅据称告诉她，他们应该通过 Line Messenger 进行沟通以避免被发现。
“Mr. Liu’s material breaches of his contract are equally clear and deliberate: he accessed, copied, and directed the disclosure of Apple Confidential Information after his employment ended, in direct violation of his post-termination obligations,” Apple says. 苹果公司表示：“刘先生对其合同的实质性违约行为同样清晰且蓄意：他在离职后访问、复制并指示披露苹果机密信息，直接违反了他离职后的义务。”
“This is a systematic effort to acquire, retain, and use Apple’s trade secrets to help OpenAI” “这是一场旨在获取、保留并利用苹果商业机密以帮助 OpenAI 的系统性行动。”
Apple alleges that Tan has been “methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI,” including emailing information to himself about Apple suppliers before leaving the company and asking for confidential Apple information when interviewing Apple employees for OpenAI jobs. 苹果指控唐·坦一直“有条不紊地利用苹果的机密信息来造福 OpenAI”，包括在离职前将有关苹果供应商的信息发送到自己的邮箱，并在面试苹果员工以招聘至 OpenAI 时索要苹果的机密信息。
OpenAI has also told Apple staffers to bring things like “CAD/design artifacts” and “prototypes” to interviews, according to the suit. “This is a systematic effort to acquire, retain, and use Apple’s trade secrets to help OpenAI try to replicate the secret technologies, business processes, and supply chain innovations that took Apple decades to build in its consumer hardware business,” Apple says. 据诉讼称，OpenAI 还曾要求苹果员工在面试时携带“CAD/设计制品”和“原型机”等资料。苹果表示：“这是一场系统性的行动，旨在获取、保留并利用苹果的商业机密，帮助 OpenAI 试图复制苹果在消费硬件业务中耗时数十年建立的秘密技术、业务流程和供应链创新。”
Apple alleges that OpenAI has also been “targeting Apple’s prized partner network and supply chain directly,” including having an Apple partner, which works with Apple on industrial design and metal-finishing techniques, “perform Apple’s proprietary, trade secret processes for OpenAI’s benefit.” 苹果还指控 OpenAI 一直在“直接针对苹果宝贵的合作伙伴网络和供应链”，包括让一家与苹果在工业设计和金属表面处理技术方面合作的苹果合作伙伴，“为 OpenAI 的利益执行苹果专有的商业机密流程”。
More than 400 former Apple staffers now work at OpenAI, Apple claims. The company accuses OpenAI of advising Apple staffers that are departing to let OpenAI know if Apple personnel “ask you to sign anything.” 苹果声称，目前有超过 400 名苹果前员工在 OpenAI 工作。该公司指控 OpenAI 建议即将离职的苹果员工，如果苹果人事部门“要求你签署任何文件”，要及时告知 OpenAI。
Apple says it reached out to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns and ask OpenAI to say what it was doing to look into the problem. “OpenAI never responded,” according to Apple. 苹果表示，曾在 2 月份联系 OpenAI 提出担忧，并要求 OpenAI 说明其正在采取什么措施来调查这一问题。据苹果称，“OpenAI 从未回应”。
OpenAI’s first hardware product is expected to arrive next year. In the lawsuit, Apple casts doubt on OpenAI’s ability to ship — at least without relying on Apple’s work. “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations,” the lawsuit says, “rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” OpenAI 的首款硬件产品预计将于明年推出。在诉讼中，苹果对 OpenAI 的交付能力表示怀疑——至少在不依赖苹果成果的情况下是如此。诉讼称：“OpenAI 初生的硬件业务现在建立在最不稳固的基础上，因其非法依赖窃取的商业机密而从核心开始腐烂。”