Musk's 2-year-old 'warning' to iPhone maker about ChatGPT-maker resurfaces; What he said

A two-year-old warning from tech billionaire Elon Musk has resurfaced online following the news that Apple has officially sued its artificial intelligence (AI) partner, OpenAI, for trade secret theft. Apple filed a lawsuit on Friday, July 10, in the Northern District of California, accusing the ChatGPT creator of running a coordinated espionage campaign to systematically steal secret hardware designs, physical prototypes and supplier data. OpenAI has denied the allegations The lawsuit has bright spotlight back onto Musk’s historical warning about the fragile alliance between the two tech giants. Two years ago, when Apple first announced it would deeply integrate OpenAI's software features directly into its operating systems, Musk was critical of the arrangement.“It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!” Musk warned at the time in a post, which has been reshared by Doge Designer, saying, “Elon Musk warned Apple about OpenAI two years ago.”“Apple has no clue what's actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They're selling you down the river,” the post, shared on June 11, 2024, said.Apple lawsuit: OpenAI ‘stole’ dataThe iPhone maker claims that OpenAI built up its rising consumer hardware division by targeting, poaching and extracting corporate secrets from Apple engineers. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI went so far as to use its recruitment process to harvest trade secrets, encouraging job candidates to bring physical Apple prototypes and blueprints to their interviews, and using proprietary information to secretly approach Apple’s own manufacturing suppliers.The legal complaint explicitly names two major high-profile defections: Tang Tan who serves as the chief hardware officer at OpenAI and Chang Liu, a former iPhone hardware engineer who left the company to join OpenAI in January.OpenAI rejects Apple’s allegationsApple’s lawsuit formally charges the defendants with “trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract,” claiming that OpenAI's leadership actively normalized and encouraged the corporate misconduct.OpenAI has fired back. Drew Pusateri, OpenAI's Director of Strategic Communications, took to X to issue a swift, absolute denial of the theft.“We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” OpenAI said in the statement.Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.