Why Apple Sued OpenAI; New York Takes On Data Centers; Cyclosporiasis Outbreak
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Wired's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoe Schiffer, contributing editor.
I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor.
And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science. This week, we're discussing OpenAI's ongoing drama, both legal and reputational. Last Friday, Apple sued the company, basically alleging that OpenAI has been stealing confidential hardware secrets. And now this week, Wired learned that some OpenAI employees are launching a super PAC to push for AI guardrails. We'll get into all those details and whether these developments could further hurt OpenAI, particularly in its fight against Anthropic.
Also on the AI front, this week New York State officially passed the first statewide data center moratorium. We'll dive into what that means exactly and whether this move could pave the way for other states to follow suit.
We'll also talk about how some members of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, used AI to actually shape housing policy. And we're going to check in on the disease sweeping the nation, cyclosporiasis, which is causing, quote unquote, turbo diarrhea across the country.
Okay, you guys, I'm really excited to start with this open AI drama because the company has been in the headlines a lot lately and not for fantastic reasons. So basically what happened was last Friday, Apple filed a lawsuit against open AI for allegedly stealing information like unreleased iPhone parts and prototypes, confidential designs, documents about secret projects. That accusation sucks for OpenAI. It's pretty intense, but it gets really messy because Apple is basically saying that this theft, this alleged theft, mostly happened through former employees.
What are Apple’s allegations against OpenAI over stolen hardware secrets?
OpenAI's chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, is named in the lawsuit and accused of encouraging people who are leaving Apple to bring with them proprietary information and unreleased technology. Brian, I just, I'm so curious what you thought when this dropped.
I think it's fascinating. There's a lot of really interesting accusations in there. I think it's also like it's part of Apple's playbook that we haven't seen in a while, but it is something that Apple has sort of done or threatened to do before. Tony Fadell, who is a longtime Apple guy, but then went on to start Nest, the thermostat company. He had also, I think he told a story recently in the wake of all this about how when he had started Nest, he hired several hundred Apple employees. Steve Jobs called him, threatened to sue, screamed bloody murder. But what I thought Fidel said was interesting, and I don't know that it applies directly here, but reportedly what he says is that he said, you know, it's my job to hire great people.
It's your job to keep them.
I forget that Apple is a pretty litigious company. They've famously sued employees for supposedly leaking stuff or taking proprietary stuff with them when they left Apple, which companies will do occasionally. But particularly for leaks, it is kind of rare to see lawsuits come. But this is the area that I feel like Apple cares most about. It is so secretive about its products that when that stuff starts to get out of its hands, I think they really are quick to like jump on it. My take here, and Leah, I'm curious to hear your thoughts, is that this isn't about getting like damages from OpenAI. I think what Apple actually wants is to slow down OpenAI's hardware production. ambitions because it's really continuing apple is continuing to go all in on the iphone as like the primary computing platform for the ai era and i do think that if we see an audio first platform that works better for stuff where you do not need to look at a screen and you can just talk to an agent like that could be intimidating for them
I think this is what's interesting to me too is some reporting came out this week also about what the device is eventually going to look like. You know, it's going to be like a speaker. It's going to have some motorized elements or so it'll like move in some capacity.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:42
2
What are Apple’s allegations against OpenAI over stolen hardware secrets?
1:42–18:01
3
Could Apple’s lawsuit slow OpenAI’s hardware ambitions and why?
18:01–29:35
4
Which OpenAI employees and acquisitions does Apple’s lawsuit cite?
29:35–33:45
5
What is the Guardrails Alliance and why are OpenAI staff funding a Super PAC?
33:45–33:55
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Uncanny Valley | WIRED
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