Apple has admitted to accidentally emailing the wrong person at OpenAI months before filing a lawsuit that accuses the artificial intelligence firm of stealing its trade secrets.
Apple sued OpenAI in July, claiming that the AI company had been hiring former Apple employees and encouraging them to steal trade secrets from their employer before joining OpenAI. In a blog post late Monday, OpenAI blasted the iPhone maker over the apparent mistake.
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“Apple had claimed that they contacted OpenAI in February and that we didn’t respond,” the AI company said. “They now admit that their outside lawyers emailed the wrong person after confusing two Asian last names—only after we brought this to their attention. Apple also claimed they had a discussion with our General Counsel, which they now concede never happened.”
Earlier Monday, Apple explained the email miscommunication in its motion for a preliminary injunction. In February, Apple’s outside counsel contacted OpenAI’s general counsel about allegations that Apple-turned-OpenAI employees were giving their new employer access to the technology company’s trade secrets and proprietary information. In a follow-up email, Apple’s outside counsel claimed he had spoken with OpenAI’s general counsel, which left the latter confused.
“Apple’s outside counsel mistakenly sent a second email to OpenAI’s general counsel intended for another recipient and then sent a third email clarifying the mistake,” the plaintiff’s court filing stated.
“OpenAI failed to respond to Apple’s outside counsel regarding any of these three emails,” the document reads. “While OpenAI directly emailed internal Apple contacts seeking confirmation that Apple’s outside counsel represented Apple, after Apple confirmed the representation, OpenAI again never responded. Without a response, Apple continued its investigation that led to the discovery of the alarming facts described in the complaint.”
In an effort to counter the tech giant’s account of events, OpenAI released the email transcript showing how the misunderstanding developed between Apple’s outside counsel Gabriel Gross and OpenAI’s general counsel Che Chang.
In his first email dated Feb. 23, Gross asks if he can discuss the alleged theft of trade secrets with Chang. Less than 15 minutes later, Gross thanked Chang for a conversation that never happened. Chang then emailed Apple’s in-house legal counsel, asking them if Gross was representing Apple. Chang was concerned Gross might have been lying.
In a subsequent email the next day, Gross clarified that he intended to send his second email to a former Apple employee now working at OpenAI with the last name Wang.
“After we had emailed Mr. Wang yesterday about retaining Apple information, he promptly called me and offered to cooperate with Apple in resolving any issues,” Gross wrote. “I then intended to email him again, but accidentally replied to my email chain with you instead. I apologize for the confusion that likely caused.”
On Feb. 25, Apple’s in-house legal counsel confirmed Gross was indeed Apple’s outside counsel on the matter.
“The specific claims in Apple’s lawsuit were never raised, and there was no further follow up prior to the lawsuit being filed five months later,” OpenAI said.
“Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details,” the company added. “This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn’t live up to that reputation.”
In its motion for a preliminary injunction, Apple wants the California-based federal court presiding over the case to hold a hearing on Oct. 1. The plaintiff filed an additional motion seeking expedited discovery in the case and depositions of four former Apple employees, including the two listed as defendants in the federal lawsuit. All of those employees left Apple to work for OpenAI.
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Recent reports indicate that OpenAI may be developing an AI-integrated smartphone, which could draw consumers away from iPhones in the future. The reported project would explain why OpenAI allegedly sought Apple’s proprietary information, but the AI firm denies it possesses or even desires the competitor’s trade secrets.
“Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction is both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” OpenAI said in its blog post. “We’re much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier.”
