> multiple former Apple employees now working at OpenAI reached out to discuss returning Apple-issued work devices they kept when they left Apple
Really Apple.. No device inventory and off boarding process?
Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
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Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#242This entire OpenAI hardware thing is a vanity project by Sam Altman wanting really bad to be Steve Jobs. Just look at this comical announcment photo and letter from last year https://openai.com/sam-and-jony/ . If this lawsuit results in the whole thing getting canned it might actually be good for OpenAI because it'll save them from pouring further billions down the drain over what will eventually be the Humane Pin 2.…
Time will tell.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#24315 years ago we'd all be drooling breathlessly, wondering what sort of magical, earth-shattering new product Apple has been cooking up behind the scenes, and will we get to learn any details about it from the court case. Today... Who cares? Lol. I'm not convinced there's anything going on at Apple, secret or otherwise, that we would find particularly interesting.
Trade secrets in AI and/or AI hardware would be pretty useful.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had a quick look at the texts released by OpenAI, and it looked to me like a former Apple employee was sharing info and documents with a current Apple employee in an attempt to help out. I do not know whether this lines up with the claims of stolen files. The second part reads to me like they asked some company to perform a special metal finishing, knowing that they perform similar work for Apple. I am no lawyer an…
> I am no lawyer and I do not understand what is proprietary to Apple here, it just does not sound that big a deal to me. The special technique is the IP. In hardware manufacturing, the process is the IP and can be considered a trade secret, so even if that supplier does metal finishing for a ton of different clients, Apple's specific "recipe" or whatever is a legally protected trade secret, they would not be allowed…
So they get a special Apple metal shine on their unknown hardware device (I guess some sort of Siri BS gadget or similar) and this somehow represents some sort of existential IP threat to Apple? I don't like OpenAI and Sam Altman (seems sketchy as f although the Anthropic guy is in the running to beat him). But this just seem ridiculous. So either there is more to this story that we are not being told or it's just a fishing expedition on Apples part to get force discovery.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's just standard across the US. But the unions are a people problem not a company problem necessarily. People can still form unions even with massive investments to squash them.. Europe has proven that. But the story told to all US workers SEEMS to be, you have to suffer and grind to make money. I might be wrong but that's the impression I get when talking with US people about unions and workers rights.
If Silicon Valley had unions, employee stock options would end. And along with it, most of the incentive structure that drives innovation in the valley.
Why?
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#246Apple is cutthroat in business too. Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and co-inventor of the iPhone, and later Nest founder, commented this in Stratechery about the lawsuit when filed: "This is Apple’s typical tactic to scare Apple employees — either former or current. I heard this lawsuit was driven by the Apple board. Steve threatened to file a lawsuit against Nest for poaching 80-100 Apple employees. He called…
I'm no OpenAI apologist here, but I appreciate this perspective. Apple definitely played their timing right for maximum pre-IPO damage. It gives them tremendous negotiating leverage on a possible settlement which could give them a chunk of OpenAI.
how?
OpenAI did not launch any hardware (yet), and I don't think their IPO pricing hinges on them launching an iPhone competitor. To me, it looks like Apple wants to launch a similar AI hardware and is slowing-down the competition to be the first-to-market.
Funny thing: they are barking at the wrong tree here.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#247I'd rather have OpenAI steal from Apple, the most valuable company in the world than to steal from everyone else: published books, StackOverflow users, Reddit comments I made 15 years ago, etc.
I have no sympathy at all for Apple in this case. Jobs didn't have any sympathy for Xerox when he stole from them.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's just standard across the US. But the unions are a people problem not a company problem necessarily. People can still form unions even with massive investments to squash them.. Europe has proven that. But the story told to all US workers SEEMS to be, you have to suffer and grind to make money. I might be wrong but that's the impression I get when talking with US people about unions and workers rights.
If Silicon Valley had unions, employee stock options would end. And along with it, most of the incentive structure that drives innovation in the valley.
Hollywood has unions and top stars and directors get points.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#249Apple is cutthroat in business too. Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and co-inventor of the iPhone, and later Nest founder, commented this in Stratechery about the lawsuit when filed: "This is Apple’s typical tactic to scare Apple employees — either former or current. I heard this lawsuit was driven by the Apple board. Steve threatened to file a lawsuit against Nest for poaching 80-100 Apple employees. He called…
Jobs had something to prove though. He was kicked out, brought back, he definitely wanted to ensure his legacy. But while I don't agree with it, I think it's harder to be an ethical company that makes it to a billion than a non ethical one. When shareholders are involved you don't have a choice really.. You're obliged to maximize their earnings.
> You're obliged to maximize [shareholder] earnings.
One of the most pernicious and harmful lies of the past 50 years.
Management is obliged to act in shareholders' interests. Executives are paid in stock. Maximizing earnings makes the stock price go up, which makes executives more money personally. So they're happy to let everyone believe they are legally required to make the stock price go up.
There is no law or court precedent making it illegal for management to de-prioritize short-term profit as long as they aren't hurting the shareholders interests and advancing their own.
Re: Apple says more ex-employees may have taken confidential data to OpenAI
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unions primarily benefit the weakest workers, and in places like SV, usually the top workers already are getting fat plates and others are pushing hard to get there. Think of it like a football club holding a vote to flatten player pay. The benchwarmers will be falling over themselves to unionize, and the top players will be looking where to move too. This is why union efforts fail, which many find perplexing. The mo…
There is no reason pay has to be flat with a union. The highest paid members of MLBPA or SAG-AFTRA are paid 1,000x what the lowest paid members are.
Interesting point. I think there might be something special about sag given the way Hollywood does business. Everyone switches employers constantly as projects spin up and wind down. Having a mostly permanent role in an organization is super unusual - and I wonder if these roles (like a 20 year soaps gig or the simpson’s) have different stats on working on/off the card.