OpenAI Fires the First Shot at Apple

Hola Decoder😎

If someone forwarded this to you and you want to Decode the power of AI and be limitless, then subscribe now and Join Decode alongside 30k+ code-breakers untangling AI.

⚖️ OpenAI accuses Apple of stealing secrets in growing legal battle

OpenAI has responded to Apple's trade secret lawsuit by accusing a former employee who returned to Apple of taking more than 100 confidential files related to an unreleased device, escalating the dispute between the two companies.

The Shift:

Former Employee Allegedly Took 100+ Files - OpenAI claims the employee transferred confidential documents during a six-month stint at the company, with the final alleged transfer occurring on his last day in June before returning to Apple.

OpenAI Questions Apple's Product Launch - OpenAI alleges the former employee briefed Apple leadership on its product plans. The company pointed to Apple's recent HomeView smart-home launch as a possible indication that confidential information was used.

Apple Denies Finding Stolen Information - Apple says its investigation found no evidence supporting OpenAI's allegations, calling them a distraction. OpenAI has postponed filing counterclaims while seeking clarity on whether Apple possesses the disputed files.

Judge Signals Trouble for OpenAI - Judge Edward Davila described an unfavorable ruling against OpenAI as highly likely. OpenAI avoided an immediate loss by agreeing not to use the trade secrets at the center of Apple's original lawsuit.

The dispute highlights how competition for AI talent and upcoming hardware products is creating new intellectual property risks. Both companies are raising concerns about confidential information, but the allegations remain unresolved, with no court finding that Apple used OpenAI's proprietary technology.

Together with Tatari

Forward 2026: A Forum for the Future of TV Advertising on Oct. 29, NYC

Paid social is getting harder to scale, while creator discovery and AI are changing how customers find brands.

If you keep relying on the same digital playbook, your acquisition costs can rise before your team finds the next reliable growth channel.

On October 29 in New York City, Forward by Tatari puts you in the room with leaders already adapting.

• Hear Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman share how one of the internet’s biggest communities thinks about discovery, followed by an open Q&A.
• See how Cody Plofker and leaders from Liquid I.V., MANSCAPED, Thorne, and Avocado Green Brands are approaching customer acquisition and full-funnel growth.
• Learn how brands use TV to produce measurable growth beyond crowded digital channels.

Bring your toughest growth question for a chance to have it answered by Reddit’s CEO or the marketer who helped take Jones Road to nine figures.

Attendance is free, but in-person space is limited. 

✨How to use ChatGPT’s 15 secret modes

ChatGPT has fifteen modes most people have never opened. Here’s where they live and what each one does.

Step 1: Find the mode switcher - Open ChatGPT. Click the plus button next to the message box. You will see a mode selector with options beyond the default chat view. Some modes also live in Settings > Personalization.

Step 2: Try the most useful modes

Study mode -  paste your notes and ChatGPT turns them into flashcards, quizzes, and summaries.Incognito mode - nothing is saved or used for training. Use it for sensitive conversations.

Genius mode - forces deeper reasoning before answering. Use it for hard decisions and analysis.

Health mode - calibrates responses for medical and wellness questions with appropriate care.

Deep Research mode - runs a multi-source research agent on any topic and delivers a sourced report.

Step 3: Set up custom modes that trigger every time - Paste this into Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions:

“When I type /brutal, give me the most critical, honest assessment possible, no softening. When I type /simple, explain everything like I am 12. When I type /expert, assume I know the field deeply and skip all basics.”

These slash commands now work in every chat automatically.

Step 4: Use the right mode for the right job - Quick answer: default chat. Deep research: Deep Research mode. Sensitive topic: Incognito. Hard decision: Genius. Learning something new: Study mode.

Switching modes is the difference between a generic answer and the right one for the situation you are actually in.

💰 Character AI files for bankruptcy as Disney opens bidding at $20 million

Character AI, once valued at $2.5 billion, has filed for bankruptcy and is seeking a buyer, with Disney submitting an opening $20 million bid for a license to some of its technology.

The Shift:

From AI Breakout to Bankruptcy - Character AI became one of the earliest popular consumer AI platforms, reportedly handling 20,000 messages per second in 2024. The company is now pursuing a sale through bankruptcy proceedings.

Google's $2.7 Billion Deal - In 2024, Google paid $2.7 billion to license Character AI's technology and bring back founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas. Google is now listed as a creditor owed over $4 million.

Disney Moves From Legal Threats to Bidding - Disney issued a cease-and-desist notice in 2025 over unauthorized use of its characters. The company has now placed a $20 million opening bid for a technology license.

Safety Lawsuits Add Pressure - Character AI settled a lawsuit involving a teenager's suicide and subsequently banned minors from its platform. Other lawsuits involving bots impersonating doctors and encouraging self-harm remain unresolved.

Character AI's bankruptcy illustrates how quickly consumer AI businesses can lose ground despite early popularity and major technology deals. Its remaining technology still attracts interest, but legal liabilities, content safety concerns and competition have complicated the company's future.

Together with Playbook Pro

Your Next 1,000 Customers Are Already Here

Pouring more money into ads won’t fix flat growth. The real leverage is hiding inside the customers you already have, and every day you wait, that momentum leaks away.

Networked Growth Engines is the 26-page field guide built from 200+ hours of research and real brand wins. It gives you ready-to-use systems you can plug in this week, no giant team or budget required. With it, you can:

🔥 Spark self-propelling communities using the Community Building Playbook, exactly how Nyfter built a 500,000-member Discord that drives product innovation.

📈 Design referral programs that fund themselves with the Referral ROI Calculator, the same loop that powered 34% of Blue Apron’s customer acquisition and delivered a 17.3× ROI for Latico Leathers.

🤝 Form trust-based partnerships fast using the Partnership MoU and 50-template Outreach Library to unlock new audiences without paid ads.

Your current customers are the growth engine. 

Download the guide today and start compounding growth before another week of ad spend vanishes.

🏆 Tools you Cannot Miss:

🧑‍🎤 CraftStory – Turns a single photograph and script into a talking-avatar video with lip-sync, facial expressions, and multilingual narration.

📹 PassiveShorts – Generates faceless TikTok and YouTube videos with scripts, images, voiceovers, and captions, then publishes them on a schedule.

🎞️ Remocn Studio – Helps creators produce launch videos without manually building complex motion graphics in After Effects.

🎤 Takes for Mac – Records talking-head videos on Mac and supports AI-assisted editing of the recorded footage.

🎨 Openmotion – Turns product screenshots and text prompts into animated motion videos for product launches and marketing content.

🚀 Quick Hits

⚖️ Eight U.S. states have sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT endangers minors, misleads users about safety, and improperly collects children's data. OpenAI disputes the allegations, citing existing parental controls and age-specific protections.

⚠️ New court documents reveal that the OpenAI engineer arrested over an alleged hidden recording device had reportedly booked a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors had raised concerns he might flee the U.S. before his arrest.

🎵 YouTube Music is rolling out AI-generated music labels across its app and YouTube, identifying tracks as fully AI-generated, partly AI-generated or non-AI. Listeners can see how AI contributed to each song, while monetization remains available.

📈 TSMC reported its sixth consecutive record quarterly profit, with net income reaching NT$763 billion ($24 billion), up 69% year over year. The chipmaker expects even stronger financial results in the fourth quarter.

👨‍💻Prompt of the day 

Create a High-End Product Ad With Custom Typography

Image Prompt: Create a photorealistic luxury product advertisement featuring a premium skincare product with carefully styled promotional typography, precise text placement, and multilingual variations.

Context

• Product: Minimalist nude-colored face moisturizer jar
• Setting: Warm, neutral studio background
• Visual Style: High-end glossy beauty campaign
• Headline: "GLOW"
• Offer: "10% OFF"
• Supporting Text: "Your First Order"
• Typography: Brush Script, Impact, and Century Gothic
• Target Languages: English, Korean, and Arabic
• Aspect Ratio: 4:5

Instructions

Position a sleek, minimalist moisturizer jar against a warm studio background with soft, radiant lighting, realistic reflections, and subtle shadows. Leave sufficient negative space beside the product for three lines of promotional text. Render "GLOW" in an elegant, flowing Brush Script font, "10% OFF" in a heavy, bold Impact font, and "Your First Order" in a thin, minimalist Century Gothic font. Maintain clear typographic hierarchy, accurate spelling, consistent spacing, and balanced alignment. Create separate localized versions in Korean and Arabic, translating the promotional text naturally while preserving its meaning, visual hierarchy, and premium aesthetic. Adapt font choices to support each language, including correct right-to-left rendering for Arabic.

Thanks for Decoding with us🥳

Your feedback is the key to our code! Help us elevate your Decode experience by hitting reply and sharing your input on our content and style.

Keep deciphering the AI enigma, and we'll be back with more coded mysteries unraveled just for you!