A judge said he is “highly likely” to bar OpenAI from using AApple’s proprietary information, while OpenAI accused a former employee of taking confidential device files to Apple. The dispute could constrain OpenAI’s consumer-hardware plans while widening the case into a two-sided trade-secrets fight.
The judge overseeing Apple’s trade-secret case against OpenAI said Wednesday that an injunction barring use of Apple’s proprietary information was “highly likely,” according to Bloomberg. The potential order would address OpenAI’s use of information at the center of Apple’s case and could affect OpenAI’s push into consumer hardware.
Before the hearing, OpenAI made a counter-allegation involving a former employee who allegedly took confidential files about an unreleased OpenAI device before returning to Apple. OpenAI alleges the employee then presented the company’s product plans to senior Apple executives.
The dispute therefore touches Apple’s proprietary information on one side and OpenAI’s unreleased hardware plans on the other. For Apple, the concrete mechanism is a court order restricting a rival’s use of information; for OpenAI, the counterclaim concerns alleged access to confidential product files by a former employee who moved back to Apple.
The judge’s statement is not itself a final injunction, and the allegations from both companies remain part of a contested legal dispute. The next material development is the court’s ruling on whether to issue the injunction and how broadly it would apply to OpenAI’s consumer-hardware work.
Our take
1 / 7
Our read · Oct 14
AAPL faces a likely injunction against OpenAI as the ChatGPT maker alleges Apple received confidential device plans.
Why
The immediate consequence is legal uncertainty around OpenAI’s hardware effort, but the counter-allegation gives Apple a material litigation complication rather than a clean win. Apple’s FY2025 revenue was $416.2B, so the disclosed company figures do not make this dispute financially decisive without a ruling that changes product access, damages or operating restrictions.
What could change this view
The judge could narrow or deny the injunction, or the court could reject OpenAI’s allegations against Apple’s former employee.
▲ The case it holds
Apple has the stronger immediate procedural position because the judge said an injunction barring OpenAI’s use of its proprietary information was highly likely.
▼ The case it breaks
OpenAI’s allegation that a former employee took confidential files about an unreleased device to Apple could broaden the case and weaken the practical value of an Apple injunction.
Reported by ZeroHedge as Judge "Highly Likely" To Grant Apple Injunction As OpenAI Fires Back With Its Own Theft Allegations, . Who answers for this
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