Technology

Ex-Apple Engineer Found Secret Backdoor Into Tech Giant’s Files ‘So Funny’ After Jumping Ship For Rival, Lawsuit Claims

Wikimedia Foundation/OpenAI LLC

A former Apple engineer allegedly celebrated after discovering a glitch that let him secretly access confidential company files while he was developing hardware for a competitor, a lawsuit claims.

Chang Liu, who left Apple for OpenAI in January, found an “authentication bug” that kept his access to Apple’s internal file system intact and used it for weeks to pull confidential material, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple filed the lawsuit Friday, asking for a court order barring OpenAI from using its trade secrets.

Liu messaged a former colleague “LOL” and called the access “so funny,” the legal complaint stated. His coworker, Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, responded “I’m ready,” and later left Apple to join OpenAI in April. Liu further advised Peng on ways to transfer files from Apple computers “to avoid trouble with the security team.”

“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously,” an Apple spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday. “Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”

OpenAI and Weil, Gotshal & Manges each did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

OpenAI’s chief hardware office, Tang Tan, is another defendant named in the case. He previously worked for Apple for twenty four years, and he allegedly directed candidates to bring “actual parts” like batteries and logic boards from Apple for “show and tell” sessions during interviews.

More than 400 ex-Apple employees now work at OpenAI, Apple acknowledged in the complaint.

“While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit,” OpenAI told Bloomberg reporter Ed Ludlow on Tuesday.

“We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” the company told TechCrunch.

OpenAI’s first consumer product will be a “humanlike AI companion that lives in the home,” anonymous sources told Bloomberg. The device is a portable smart speaker without a screen, intended to serve as an AI-centric home computer.