OpenAI says Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit is “aggressive and oddly personal”

OpenAI 称苹果的商业机密诉讼“咄咄逼人且带有奇怪的个人色彩”

OpenAI has accused Apple of waging a “careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit” in a blog post rebutting the iPhone maker’s claims that the AI start-up stole top-secret information. “We do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” the ChatGPT maker wrote on Monday evening, accusing Apple of “making vague accusations” and “trying to change their narrative.”

OpenAI 在一篇博文中反驳了苹果公司关于其窃取机密信息的指控，称苹果发起的诉讼“草率、咄咄逼人且带有奇怪的个人色彩”。这家 ChatGPT 的开发商在周一晚间写道：“我们没有，也不想要他们的任何商业机密”，并指责苹果“做出模糊的指控”且“试图改变其叙事方式”。

The post marks the latest escalation in a dispute that began last month when Apple filed a lawsuit claiming OpenAI had stolen hardware designs as it planned to launch its own AI-focused consumer devices. The dispute comes as the two companies encroach on each other’s territory, with OpenAI venturing into consumer products and Apple joining forces with Google to revamp its Siri voice assistant.

这篇文章标志着双方争端的进一步升级。该争端始于上个月，当时苹果提起诉讼，声称 OpenAI 在计划推出自己的 AI 消费设备时窃取了硬件设计。此次争端正值两家公司相互蚕食对方领地之际：OpenAI 正在进军消费产品领域，而苹果则联手谷歌对其 Siri 语音助手进行改造。

OpenAI and Apple had previously partnered to integrate AI technology into Apple’s products. But the relationship began to sour after OpenAI last year acquired io, the design studio founded by former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive, and hired a string of Apple employees. Apple alleged in its lawsuit that more than 400 of its former employees now worked at OpenAI. It said it had received no response from OpenAI in February after contacting the start-up to warn it of an internal investigation into the potential theft of Apple’s trade secrets.

OpenAI 和苹果此前曾合作将 AI 技术整合到苹果产品中。但自从 OpenAI 去年收购了由前苹果设计主管 Jony Ive 爵士创立的设计工作室 io，并聘用了一系列苹果员工后，双方关系开始恶化。苹果在诉讼中称，其 400 多名前员工目前在 OpenAI 工作。苹果表示，今年 2 月在联系 OpenAI 并警告其正在对潜在的商业机密窃取行为进行内部调查后，没有收到 OpenAI 的任何回应。

OpenAI said Apple’s lawyers had “emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names” and “claimed they had a discussion with our General Counsel, which they now concede never happened.” The start-up said Apple “never raised the specific allegations in this lawsuit at that time” and “in fact told us that they were ‘resolving any issues.’ We then heard nothing for five months until they sued.”

OpenAI 表示，苹果的律师“因为混淆了两个亚洲人的姓氏而发错了邮件”，并且“声称他们与我们的总法律顾问进行了讨论，但他们现在承认这从未发生过”。这家初创公司表示，苹果“当时从未提出本诉讼中的具体指控”，并且“事实上告诉我们他们正在‘解决任何问题’。此后五个月我们没再听到任何消息，直到他们提起诉讼。”

Apple alleged in its lawsuit that Chang Liu, a former employee who worked on some of its “most sensitive product development programs,” accessed Apple’s trade secrets after leaving the company in January. However OpenAI said Apple employees had themselves contacted Liu “and asked for his help to locate this information,” something the iPhone maker “only now admits.”

苹果在诉讼中指控其前员工 Chang Liu（曾参与苹果“最敏感的产品开发项目”之一）在 1 月份离职后获取了苹果的商业机密。然而，OpenAI 表示，是苹果员工主动联系了 Liu，“并请求他帮助定位这些信息”，这一点苹果公司“直到现在才承认”。

Apple also named in its lawsuit a second former employee, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, whom it accused of seeking out proprietary information when interviewing Apple’s employees. “Tang has always been clear with the team that we do not want, and must not use, any confidential information from other companies,” wrote OpenAI.

苹果还在诉讼中点名了第二位前员工——OpenAI 的硬件主管 Tang Tan，指控他在面试苹果员工时寻求获取专有信息。OpenAI 写道：“Tang 一直向团队明确表示，我们不想要，也绝不能使用其他公司的任何机密信息。”

Apple on Monday sought a preliminary injunction in the US to prevent former employees and OpenAI from accessing, using, or disclosing its trade secrets. It also filed a second motion asking the court to expedite discovery and order several OpenAI employees, including Liu and Tan, to sit for depositions.

周一，苹果在美国寻求初步禁令，以阻止前员工和 OpenAI 访问、使用或披露其商业机密。苹果还提交了第二项动议，要求法院加快证据开示程序，并命令包括 Liu 和 Tan 在内的几名 OpenAI 员工接受证词录取。

OpenAI said Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction was “both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets.” “Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details. This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn’t live up to that reputation,” the ChatGPT maker wrote.

OpenAI 表示，苹果申请初步禁令的请求“既基于虚假信息，也完全没有必要，因为我们没有，也不想要他们的任何商业机密”。这家 ChatGPT 的开发商写道：“苹果是有史以来最伟大的公司之一，并以对细节的极致追求而闻名。遗憾的是，这场草率、咄咄逼人且带有奇怪个人色彩的诉讼，配不上这一声誉。”

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

苹果没有立即回应置评请求。