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

Apple will get faster access to interview records and messages, while its broader push into OpenAI’s hardware R&D was rejected.

A federal judge has ordered OpenAI to give Apple faster access to hiring records tied to Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit, including materials from interviews with former Apple employees who applied to consumer hardware and robotics jobs. The ruling matters because those records may show whether interviewers discussed Apple technology or components while OpenAI was building a consumer device that could eventually compete with the iPhone. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila gave OpenAI five days to hand over what it has already collected and 14 days for any other relevant materials in that request. He also allowed Apple to obtain private LINE messages for named employees and to depose OpenAI hardware chief Tang Yew Tan, along with former Apple employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng, but he rejected Apple’s broader push into OpenAI’s hardware R&D.