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TechMusk taunts OpenAI CEO Altman over Apple trade secrets lawsuit
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Elon Musk publicly criticized OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X, accusing him of 'scamming' amid Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI for alleged trade secret theft. Apple claims former employees, including hardware chief Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu, stole proprietary information to help OpenAI build AI devices. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who lost a prior lawsuit against the company, taunted Altman over the allegations. Altman responded by criticizing Musk's space-based data center plans. Apple alleges over 400 former employees now work at OpenAI, and that confidential data was improperly transferred. OpenAI denies the claims, stating it has no interest in others' trade secrets.
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Author: Daniel Howley, Technology Editor, Yahoo Finance Read Time: 2 min
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Elon Musk has inserted himself into the legal battle between Apple (AAPL) and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT). The SpaceX (SPCX) and Tesla (TSLA) CEO took to X over the weekend, taking several shots at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and accusing him of "scamming."
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI alongside Altman and others, lost a lawsuit against the AI startup's chief executive and president Greg Brockman. In his suit, Musk accused the pair and OpenAI backer Microsoft (MSFT) of duping him into donating money to the company with the understanding that it would remain a nonprofit.
In one post on X, Musk said Altman "takes scamming to a whole new level."
Altman replied, criticizing Musk for "selling public market investors on short-term space datacenters," referring to SpaceX's plans to launch space-based data centers as an alternative to ground-based solutions.
Musk shot back, saying the company will begin flying the data centers next year, while claiming, "After stealing an open source AI charity, you then stole all of Apple's phone technology!"
Apple's Lawsuit Against OpenAI
Apple revealed its lawsuit against OpenAI in a court filing on Friday, claiming "OpenAI and its cohorts have been engaging in a coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level."
In a statement, an OpenAI spokesperson told Yahoo Finance: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."
Key Allegations
Apple alleges in its suit that:
- Tang Tan, OpenAI's hardware chief and former Apple vice president of product design, and Chang Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer now working at OpenAI, colluded to steal information from the iPhone maker to help OpenAI build its own AI devices.
- Tan emailed himself information about Apple's suppliers before leaving the company and joining OpenAI.
- Tan allegedly asked prospective OpenAI candidates who were still employed by Apple to bring "actual parts" to interviews for "show and tell" sessions.
- Liu used a former Apple colleague's Apple-issued laptop to access the company's network and downloaded hardware-related files about unreleased products and other proprietary data.
- Other former Apple employees who moved to OpenAI similarly emailed themselves confidential Apple information to their private email accounts.
- Some former employees used their knowledge of Apple's trade secrets to help OpenAI create its AI hardware devices.
Apple stated that OpenAI currently employs more than 400 former Apple workers.
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Musk and Altman Feud Over Apple Lawsuit and AI Competition