Judge orders OpenAI to hand over hiring records in Apple trade secrets case

A federal judge ruled that Apple can access OpenAI interview materials related to former Apple employees, as well as private messages and testimony from key figures in the case.

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A judge has ruled that Apple will have immediate access to OpenAI's employment materials in a lawsuit the iPhone maker filed against OpenAI in July.

Specifically, the court will allow Apple to see documents related to OpenAI interviews with former Apple employees who applied for roles in its consumer hardware and robotics groups ahead of the rumored launch of the first OpenAI hardware device.

These documents can include interview checklists, manuals, instructions, manuals, and scripts, as well as technical presentations and records indicating that interview discussions include references to Apple technology or components.

The court gave OpenAI five days to hand over the material it had already collected and 14 days for other material related to the request, agreeing with Apple that the documents should be expedited.

This comes as OpenAI develops a consumer hardware device that could one day potentially rival the iPhone — or smartphones in general — if the AI device becomes a central part of consumers' lives and how they interact with software and services.

In its complaint, Apple accused OpenAI of a pattern of theft that included direct complaints about former employees using Apple laptops to download confidential materials and files that contained information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data.

Apple also said former Apple employees at OpenAI trained others to consider Apple going to OpenAI about what information they should bring to their interviews, among other allegations.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila did not clear all of Apple's requests for expedited access to OpenAI documents and messages related to the case. But he ruled that Apple could access the interview material, along with private LINE messages (from a messaging app) between people named in the filing, including OpenAI employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng.

The judge also approved the deposition of Liu and Peng, along with a third party, OpenAI's chief hardware officer, Tang Yu Tan. All three are former Apple employees.

However, the judge denied Apple's request to expedite access to OpenAI research and development in certain areas, such as metal payments and energy management. He also denied several of Apple's broader discovery requests, such as access to OpenAI's hardware research or information about what its former employees created while working on OpenAI.

However, this is not the final denial. The judge left the door open for Apple to limit its requests and try again.

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