Apple seeks preliminary injunction against OpenAI in trade secrets case

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Apple on Monday ‌asked a U.S. ​judge ​for a preliminary injunction barring two former employees and OpenAI from accessing, acquiring, using or disclosing alleged confidential information as it moves ‌ahead with its trade secrets case.

Apple last month sued OpenAI and ⁠the two former employees, both now working for OpenAI, alleging misappropriation of its trade secrets to ‌benefit the ChatGPT-owner's foray into consumer ‌hardware, a dramatic escalation of already simmering tension between the two companies.

The iPhone maker also filed a concurrent motion on Monday seeking expedited discovery, including ​production of documents relating to the defendants' alleged access of Apple's proprietary and trade secret information.

It asked the judge to order the two former Apple ⁠employees named in the lawsuit, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, to sit for depositions, along with OpenAI ​employee Yu-Ting Peng and an unnamed OpenAI employee who previously worked at Apple.

Liu is a former Apple senior system electrical engineer ​while Tan is Apple's former vice president of ‌product design for iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple also sought depositions from corporate representatives of OpenAI and io Products, which is OpenAI's ⁠commercial arm and is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

"Apple will be irreparably harmed absent a preliminary injunction," it said in a filing.

"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 a blogpost late on Monday.

Apple's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, comes after OpenAI successfully fended ‌off a legal challenge from Elon Musk's xAI.

The lawsuit sets up a battle over the control of future AI devices ‌that may not use traditional apps or operating systems — devices which, if successful, would ⁠direct consumer attention away from Apple's ‌best-selling iPhone. Analysts believe ​OpenAI is working on a phone or other device of its own.

(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Kate Mayberry)

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