**: IT House.
IT Home reported on February 10 that Apple has reached an agreement with chip startup Rivos, which was indicted in 2022 for stealing trade secrets. Rivos will undergo an inspection of its systems to remove any Apple confidential information.
IT Home has learned that Rivos hired more than 40 employees from Apple, including several former senior engineers, leading to Apple's lawsuit in May 2022. Apple accuses Rivos of poaching employees and stealing chip trade secrets through those employees, while Rivos is designing SoCs that can compete with Apple's A-series and M-series chips.
According to Apple, at least two engineers hired by Rivos took "gigabytes of sensitive SoC specifications and design files" during Apple's final days. The employees used USB sticks and AirDrop to transfer sensitive Apple material to their own personal devices and allegedly stole presentations of unpublished SOCs.
Apple is demanding an injunction against employees who join Rivos to prevent them from continuing to leak sensitive data, as well as damages for misappropriation of trade secrets and "unjust enrichment" by Rivos. Apple wants Rivos to offer "reasonable royalties" for future products and asks for a jury trial.
Rivos and Apple aim to complete the settlement by March 15 and are in the process of remediation.