Apple files a lawsuit against OpenAI, accuses it of stealing trade secrets
In 2024, Apple and OpenAI had partnered to bring ChatGPT on iPhone. Now, Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern California. This isn’t the first time OpenAI has been hit by a lawsuit, but this could be the biggest case yet. OpenAI has drawn the ire of many, including allegations that it had trained its AI models on data that had been illegally sourced from third parties, thus infringing on copyrights. But, Apple’s lawsuit is a heavy-hitter. It alleges that OpenAI has stolen trade secrets that were critical to Apple’s technology research, product development, manufacturing and more. Apple says that OpenAI had failed to respond to its letters addressing concerns about confidential information.
The Cupertino company has claimed that OpenAI had asked job candidates to share secret details about Apple’s projects, and even gained access to prototype hardware and device components. It alleges that former VP of Apple Watch, Tang Tan, had coached job candidates on how to avoid Apple’s security processes for leaving the company. Apple claims that Tan had also asked potential candidates to bring Apple hardware, and talk about them during their interviews.
Chang Liu, a former systems electrical engineer for iPhone, reportedly gained access to his former colleague, Yu-Ting Alyssa Peng’s laptop. This was an Apple-owned device which was used to gain access to Apple’s networks, after Liu had joined OpenAI. He managed to download technical documents from Apple’s servers. Liu had also obtained details about unannounced products from the Apple employee, to help Peng prepare for her job interviews.
Apple is said to believe that OpenAI’s hardware ventures could be based on its technology. This is what Apple wrote in its lawsuit, “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” OpenAI on the other hand seemed nonchalant and said that “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
OpenAI announces a macro pad, and could launch a smart speaker soon
OpenAI has launched a device called the Codex Micro. It is a compact keyboard product, which was developed as a collaboration between OpenAI and Work Louder. The Codex Micro is designed for productivity and has 13 mechanical keys, and its design is akin to another macro pad from Work Louder, the Creator Micro 2. The device also has a joystick, a dial and a touch sensor.
Codex Micro has 6 keys that are frosted, and these change color to indicate the live status of a task. It will switch colors to signal that a task is complete, needs feedback, running, or has run into an error. The other keys include common actions like accept changes, reject outputs, push-to-talk, start new chats, trigger custom actions. Work Louder says that keys can be remapped, and that users can customize the device with 32-included icon keycaps. The controls can be remapped by using the ChatGPT desktop app.
OpenAI says that the Codex Micro is a limited run product, and will cost $230. Rumors suggest that OpenAI could be launching its first AI-powered product soon, this is said to be a smart speaker, that works as a screenless companion for ChatGPT. It is unclear how this could play out given that OpenAI has been hit by a lawsuit from Apple regarding theft of hardware technology.
EU orders Google to give rivals more access to Android and Search options
The European Union has ordered Google to open up more access to Android and Search to allow competitors. These rules are part of 2 sets of measures to ensure Google’s compliance under the Digital Markets Act.
According to the report, AI assistants made by third-parties have limited access to key functionalities on Android. It says that since alternative AI apps are restricted, they cannot compete with Google’s Gemini AI which has full access to the OS. This seemingly makes third-part AI assistants less attractive. The European Commission says that it wants users to have more choices to set their preferred AI assistant, and also improve the privacy of users.
Currently, users cannot select a specific AI assistant as the default app on their Android device, that works in favor of Gemini. This is something that the EU wants to change. It wants to allow users to choose which AI assistant app should be activated with voice commands like “Hey Google”. This can also help the user delegate tasks to the AI, or ask it to recommend suggestions for relevant replies in chats and other apps, interact with the AI about a recently visited place.
Google had offered to share about search has been ineffective. The Mountain View company had specified that AI chatbots that offer search functionalities are eligible to receive shared data, subject to anonymization. But the EU wants to give third-party search engines access to data that Google Search can collect, to ensure better competition among search services.
Mozilla to release Firefox updates once every 2 weeks
Mozilla has announced that it will release an update for Firefox once every 2 weeks. The previous release cadence followed a 4-week pattern, which meant that a new version was released once every month. This is similar to what Google announced for Chromium releases recently. Mozilla has already been releasing point-updates multiple times a month to patch in bugs.
But it has stuck to a monthly-release pattern for version updates, e.g. from 151 to 152, 152 to 153, and so on. According to Mozilla, the move to a faster release cycle is experimental, and will be used to analyze whether it is beneficial. The non-profit organization says that the development of features will not be rushed because of the change, and that Firefox developers will only include new features in the browser when they are ready.
Chipp.in reports that Mozilla will move to the 2-week release cycle from September 1, 2026, that’s when Firefox 155 will be released. Users can expect new features to be available earlier than before.
Google’s NotebookLM has been renamed to Gemini Notebook
Google is at it again, it is renaming another of its services, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. This time, it is NotebookLM, which has been renamed to Gemini Notebook. NotebookLM debuted at Google I/O 2023. It allows users to convert their notes into AI podcasts, which can become a personalized research tool. Google has updated it with new features such as creating narrated slideshows, short video clips.
Now, it can do more. Gemini Notebook can connect Gemini Notebook can connect with Google’s ecosystem, including Search and the Gemini app. Google says that Gemini Notebook will continue to remain a standalone product.
In addition to this, Google is adding the ability to write and execute code natively in Gemini Notebook, but this feature is only available for Google AI Ultra users and Workspace business customers with AI Ultra Access and AI Expanded Access. The feature will begin rolling out to Pro users on the web in the coming weeks.
