Apple claims startup hired employees to steal chip secrets

Apple has sued a startup for allegedly stealing trade secrets to build a competing chip lineup. The company filed a lawsuit late last week in California, naming the Santa Clara-based Rivos as well as two former Apple employees, Bhasi Kaithamana and Ricky Wen. It claims the company mounted a “coordinated campaign” to attract Apple employees and encourage them to copy confidential documents before leaving, violating their contract with Apple.

The case pits one of the biggest tech companies against a much newer rival, which Apple claims gained an unfair advantage by poaching dozens of its employees to get access to internal files.

Rivos was founded in May 2021 and has operated for months in stealth mode, hiring employees from several major...

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