Why this could get bigger
There’s much in the litigation that it will garner serious international attention as it unfolds. Apple’s argues that a competitor with access to so much of its own proprietary information could “bypass years of independent research and development, skip the capital expenditure required to build genuine expertise, and bring products to market faster and at lower cost, harming the value of Apple’s investments.”
It’s not just the secrets behind actively-used processes Apple is protecting; the company is also asserting its rights to regain control of information it has assembled over time concerning processes and manufacturing attempts that have failed. That’s understandable – you can invest a lot of money in finding out what doesn’t work and knowing that is a trade secret in itself.
“OpenAI coaches candidates to prepare for their interviews by studying Apple’s confidential engineering documentation, internal presentations, and proprietary technical materials,” the litigation claims. “OpenAI then uses its insider Apple information to ask detailed questions to extract more: about Apple’s proprietary tools, vendor management processes, engineering methodologies, manufacturing workflows, and supplier relationships, for example.