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    Apple is suing OpenAI for alleged trade secret theft, accusing the company and two staffers of stealing the iPhone maker’s confidential information to help build its own hardware.

    “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” Apple claimed in the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

    Apple filed the lawsuit in a US district court, naming the former employees as well as io Products, a startup from former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Last year, OpenAI acquired io, which has been developing a mysterious AI-powered device for Sam Altman’s company.  

    However, Apple claims it has uncovered evidence that OpenAI has been conspiring to steal its trade secrets by poaching employees or pressuring them to divulge their work during job interviews. “Unsurprisingly, Apple’s investigation has found a pattern by employees who depart for OpenAI of taking steps to evade the security processes intended to protect Apple’s confidential information,” the company says. 

    In the 41-page complaint, the company names former Apple VP of Product Design Tang Yew Tan and ex-iPhone electrical engineer Chang Liu as two major culprits, who’ve both joined OpenAI. Tan, now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, has been interviewing Apple employees interested in jumping ship to the company asking them to discuss unannounced products or even to bring actual hardware to interviews.

    Meanwhile, Liu at one point hacked Apple’s shared network folders using a software bug. “He celebrated his improper access, exclaiming in a message left on his colleague’s Apple-issued work laptop ‘LOL’  and that it was ‘so funny,’” the complaint says. “Then, over several weeks, while developing hardware for OpenAI, Mr. Liu surreptitiously accessed and downloaded dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.”

    OpenAI has allegedly been trying to piggyback on Apple’s supply chain by working with its trusted partners behind the company’s back. “This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” the lawsuit adds. “Apple’s investigation has uncovered misconduct reaching across seniority levels, technical disciplines, and departments at OpenAI.”

    Apple suggests, however, that OpenAI is “under mounting pressure to deliver its first commercial hardware product and facing the reality that building a successful consumer device business from scratch is more complex, time-consuming, and difficult than it anticipated, [so] OpenAI has resorted to taking unlawful shortcuts.”

    OpenAI is still reviewing the complaint, but told PCMag: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

    Recommended by Our Editors

    In the meantime, the lawsuit suggests a major breakdown in the relationship between the two companies after OpenAI partnered with Apple in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT with Apple Intelligence. Apple has since decided to offer an upgraded Siri AI later this year based on Google’s Gemini models.

    If Apple’s lawsuit proceeds, the controversy could blow up even further. “This lawsuit and the discovery process are needed to expose and begin to remedy the pervasive theft of Apple’s trade secrets,” the complaint noted.

    “Apple’s lawsuit is demanding the court block OpenAI from using the trade secrets and erasing evidence of the illegal acts, force them to return “all of Apple’s property in their possession,” and pay up in damages and royalty fees.”

    Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

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  • Meta Axes Option to Use Public Instagram Photos to Generate Images

    Meta Axes Option to Use Public Instagram Photos to Generate Images

    UPDATE 7/10: Following backlash, Meta has removed the option to generate AI images using public Instagram photos.

    “Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference,” Meta said in an update to its blog post. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

    This comes after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) shared details on how to opt out of Instagram sharing. “Take action to protect your likeness,” it said at the time. Tonight, it cheered Meta’s removal of the feature. “A win is a win,” it tweeted.

    As Variety reports, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents actors like Zendaya and Meryl Streep, also said on Wednesday that, “No one’s name, image, likeness, voice or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent.” It called on Meta “to make protection the default on Muse Image, not the exception, and enable individuals to opt-in if they want to allow usage of their image or likeness for AI content creation.”

    Original Story 7/8:
    Meta has introduced a new image-generation model for its apps that lets users tag Instagram accounts and use their public images as references for AI prompts, among other things.

    The Muse Image model was developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs, and it “pairs with Muse Spark to reason through your prompt, search the web, and plan before it generates,” says Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang.

    At launch, the Muse Image model is available for free through the Meta AI app, Instagram Stories, and the Meta AI chat window on WhatsApp. Get started with a conversational prompt or upload a photo and provide commands to modify it. Or use the Ideas button to get suggestions.

    Using markup tools to provide image-generation prompts in Meta AI

    (Credit: Meta)

    To provide the AI with more specific instructions, you can use Markup tools to draw over a part of the image and enter a prompt. For example, you can scribble over a person’s eyes and ask the AI to add sunglasses, or mark their head to add a hat. The model can also remove a person from the background or build a functional QR code, Meta says.

    Allow People to Reuse Your Content?

    More importantly, Muse Image lets users @mention Instagram accounts in the Meta AI app and use the account’s public images as a reference for the prompt. For example, you could tag a person and ask Meta AI to add them to an image.  

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    Providing Meta AI image-generation prompts using Instagram tags

    (Credit: Meta Ai)

    Meta says this is in line with Instagram’s content reuse policy, meaning if your account is private, Meta AI won’t let others use your uploads to generate or edit images. Still, there are ways to stop Meta AI from scraping your content.

    Go to your Instagram profile, tap the Menu bar on the top right to enter Settings and activity, select Sharing and Reuse, and disable both options under Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features at Meta. Changes made using this option “only apply to future media,” the support page warns.

    How to disable reuse of Instagram content

    (Credit: Jibin Joseph)

    Meta’s new Muse Image model is currently available to users in the US and comes with a usage cap. For extended use, you’ll need to purchase one of Meta’s subscription plans. Soon, the model will be made available in other markets as well as on Facebook and Messenger.

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  • Christopher Nolan Praises ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms,’ Says Young Audiences Are Rejecting “AI Slop”

    Christopher Nolan Praises ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms,’ Says Young Audiences Are Rejecting “AI Slop”

    Christopher Nolan is the latest major filmmaker to praise the breakout horror hits Obsession and Backrooms.

    In a new interview with The Telegraph promoting his upcoming epic The Odyssey, Nolan reflected on the lengths he went to in order to make the film feel authentic, including traveling the world and assembling a “cast of thousands.”

    “I think cinema is vital and essential and continues to transform itself,” the Oscar winner said. “We’ve got all these great new young voices in movies, making the medium their own and moving it forward.”

    The article states that Nolan pointed to Curry Barker and Kane Parsons — the filmmakers behind Obsession and Backrooms — as evidence that “things are on the right track.” Both horror films have made history at the box office.

    Barker’s Obsession, released May 15, has grossed more than $400 million globally on a $750,000 budget. The film became the highest-grossing festival acquisition of all time after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and is now Focus Features’ highest-grossing release ever.

    Meanwhile, Parsons’ Backrooms has surpassed $350 million globally and is A24’s highest-grossing film in a number of countries. Parsons, 21, also became the youngest director to top the domestic box office.

    “This is why I never bought into the arguments that young audiences’ attention spans are too fried to enjoy a three-hour Greek epic,” Nolan said. “Those films are so mysterious and ruminative. I mean, parts of Backrooms are like David Lynch at his most obscure. And yet young people can’t get enough of them.”

    The Oppenheimer director continued: “I’ve never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology in my lifetime. So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at that generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it.”

    Nolan also cited his children, who are in their late teens and early 20s, as examples.

    “Their judgment of AI slop has been immediate and harsh. They see it for what it is very quickly — and it’s much easier for them to identify it, because it grew out of an online world they know really well,” he explained. “While that doesn’t mean that every aspect of the technology is useless or meaningless, in filmmaking it’s hitting at exactly the wrong time. After years of driving towards heavily virtual environments, we’re seeing a renewed interest in more tactile, more real forms of storytelling.”

    That sentiment was echoed when The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Gen Z moviegoers about the rise of younger filmmakers like Barker and Parsons.

    “Audiences in general, but especially audiences my age, are getting so overwhelmed by all of the CGI movies — the Marvel epidemic. It really deterred a lot of people from wanting to go and see these big-budget movies,” one moviegoer said.

    Nolan isn’t the only legendary filmmaker championing the next generation of talent. Steven Spielberg also recently praised Obsession, saying he “loved” the film and applauded Barker for making it on a budget of less than $1 million. 

    As far as Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’ long, torturous trip back to Ithaca after the Trojan War to save his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. Its star-studded cast includes Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Travis Scott, Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong’o and more.

    Check out all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Obsession coverage here and Backrooms coverage here.

  • ‘Big Brother’ Season 28 Cast Revealed: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Alum, Rocket Scientist, MMA Fighter and More

    ‘Big Brother’ Season 28 Cast Revealed: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Alum, Rocket Scientist, MMA Fighter and More

    CBS has unveiled the cast for Big Brother season 28.

    On Tuesday, the network announced the houseguests competing in the upcoming season of the long-running reality series. The initial 14-player cast includes everyone from a rocket scientist and an MMA fighter to a pickleball coach and a RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, better known as Salina EsTitties.

    The reality competition series follows a group of strangers living together in a house under 24/7 surveillance as they form alliances, compete in challenges and vote one another out until one houseguest remains to claim the $750,000 grand prize. This season’s theme, “Time Trip,” will see the “past, present and future collide,” according to CBS.

    Big Brother premiered on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The 24/7 live feeds are available the following day on Paramount+, Pluto and YouTube for a limited time. Additional surprise houseguests will also be revealed during the premiere. (This list was originally published on July 7 and has been updated as new characters were revealed.)

    Meet the Big Brother season 28 houseguests, with official bios and photos provided by CBS, below.

  • Peter Van Norden, ‘Police Academy 2’ Actor, Dies at 75

    Peter Van Norden, ‘Police Academy 2’ Actor, Dies at 75

    Peter Van Norden, the actor who appeared in the Police Academy and Naked Gun films, has died. He was 75.

    Van Norden’s son, Robert, announced that his father died on Thursday.

    “Peter passed away peacefully last night with his wife, Wendy, at his side,” Robert wrote in an Instagram post. “He was a terrific father, husband, friend, and a greatly respected member of the theater community. He will be missed.”

    Born Dec. 16, 1950, Van Norden earned his first acting credit in the late 1970s in the comedy Squeeze Play. He went on to appear in numerous film projects, including the 1985 Police Academy follow-up, entitled Their First Assignment. There, Van Norden portrayed policeman Vinnie Schtulman, the first partner of Steve Guttenberg’s Carey Mahoney.

    Another sequel, he acted in the second Naked Gun movie in 1991, where he took on the role of John Sununu, President George H. W. Bush’s former White House chief of staff.

    On the small screen, he has acted in Three’s A Crowd (1985); an episode of Silver Spoons; a 1991 episode of Matlock; L.A. Law (1990-1992); The Stand; Murder, She Wrote (1989-1996); two 2004 episodes of Days of Our Lives; and 9-1-1 (2019).

    Van Norden’s film credits include The Accused; An Innocent Man; Love Hurts; Hunky Dory; and West Virginia, among others.

    Outside film and TV, Van Norden had an extensive stage career, appearing in various Broadway, off-Broadway and regional productions. His Broadway stints included features in St. Joan, Macbeth, Little Johnny Jones, Romeo and Juliet and The Inspector General. He performed his final stage role last year in Corktown ’39 at Los Angeles’ Matrix Theatre.

    Van Norden was also part of The Rehearsal Room actors workshop, which “help[s] actors and artists grow their careers through challenging material.” Last August, he partook in breaking down Shakespeare’s Richard III.

    He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and their son, Robert.

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