Doximity and OpenEvidence sue each other in spat over medical AI trade secrets

Two of the top producers of a “ChatGPT for doctors” are suing each other, each claiming the other is guilty of back-and-forth civil violations that include corporate espionage and defamation.

Doximity, a social media and networking platform for clinicians, recently filed a lawsuit against OpenEvidence—an AI startup backed by heavy investment from Sequoia Capital and Google Ventures—accusing the startup of using false claims as a form of self-promotion. 

Notably, Doximity has a partnership with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, that has resulted in the creation of a healthcare-specific version of the popular large language model (LLM) dubbed Doximity GPT.

The clinician users of the social platform can use the tool to answer medical questions, with answers drawing from real-world data and formal research. OpenEvidence advertises a similar offering, boasting partnerships with large medical journals, specifically the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA.

OpenEvidence was the first to fire off a lawsuit, accusing Doximity of stealing its proprietary code. Specifically, according to Business Insider, the startup claims that imposter doctors were hired to steal its trade secrets. 

Doximity, a $13 billion publicly traded company, has denied the accusations. In its lawsuit, the company accused OpenEvidence of spreading misinformation in an attempt to harm Doximity and steal its most talented employees. 

The squabble has a detailed backstory. In February, OpenEvidence filed a lawsuit against another competitor, Pathway Medical, accusing it of making “prompt injection” attacks against OpenEvidence’s LLM.

Prompt injection attacks are when malicious input tricks an AI model into ignoring its original instructions, thus tricking the chatbot into performing unsafe actions—or leaking secrets, which OpenEvidence said were then used by Pathway Medical to improve its competing AI.

A judge threw out the lawsuit in June. Then in August, Doximity purchased Pathway Medical for $63 million, effectively gaining access to the AI that OpenEvidence alleges was improved using proprietary code “stolen” from it in these alleged prompt attacks—which, if true, would be made by technically savvy users portraying themselves as doctors. 

As Business Insider notes, these lawsuits and types of conflicts mark a first for the legal system, and could set lasting future precedents. 

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