Minitap Accuses Google of Unattributed Code Copying in Artemis Project
Nicolas de Handschutter, CEO of Minitap, accused Google of verbatim copying code, prompts, and test cases from Minitap's open-source mobile-use project into Google's Artemis repository without proper Apache 2.0 attribution. Following public scrutiny, Google updated its repository to include a notice acknowledging Minitap's original code contribution. This controversy underscores ethical and legal compliance challenges when tech giants utilize open-source software under licenses like Apache 2.0. It also raises questions about fairness on benchmark leaderboards like AndroidWorld, which Google maintains while competing against third-party open-source projects. The copied components specifically included Minitap's Android device connections, Hopper agent instructions, and WhatsApp messaging tasks, with initial author metadata removed via force pushes before being re-added. Minitap noted that the copied open-source code is already seven months behind their current commercial product technology.
## BACKGROUND
mobile-use is an open-source framework developed by Minitap that allows AI agents to operate Android and iOS applications using natural language. The Apache 2.0 license grants permission to copy and modify software, provided users retain copyright notices and explicitly state any modifications. AndroidWorld is a benchmark suite created by Google DeepMind to measure the capabilities of autonomous AI agents across real-world mobile tasks.