U.S. District Judge Edward Davila issued a ruling that gives Apple accelerated permission to obtain OpenAI’s hiring documentation in the trade-secrets lawsuit filed in July. OpenAI must deliver files it has already gathered within five days and any additional relevant material within fourteen days, reflecting the court’s agreement that the request merits speed.
The materials slated for disclosure include interview checklists, guidance manuals, scripts and technical presentations used when former Apple staff applied for positions in OpenAI’s consumer-hardware and robotics divisions. The court also ordered the release of records showing whether interview conversations referenced Apple technologies or components, providing Apple a view into the recruitment process preceding the rumored launch of OpenAI’s first hardware product.
Apple’s complaint alleges a systematic pattern of misappropriation, claiming that former employees used Apple laptops to copy confidential files containing specifications, engineering decks and proprietary project data for unreleased products. The suit further contends that those ex-Apple staff coached new leavers on the type of proprietary information to bring to OpenAI interviews, intensifying concerns as OpenAI advances a consumer-focused AI device that could challenge the iPhone market.
While granting Apple access to interview records, Judge Davila declined to expedite the company’s request for OpenAI’s research on metal finishes, power-management systems and other hardware-development areas. He also rejected broader discovery demands for OpenAI’s overall hardware research and for details about inventions created by former Apple engineers after joining OpenAI. Nonetheless, the order permits depositions of Chang Liu, Alyssa Peng and chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan, all of whom previously worked at Apple, and the production of private LINE messages exchanged among them.
Apple’s inability to obtain the broader set of technical documents is not final; the judge left open the possibility for the plaintiff to refine its requests and seek additional discovery. The limited disclosure focuses on recruitment artifacts, leaving OpenAI’s core hardware research largely protected for now, a balance that may shape future litigation over talent-migration and intellectual-property safeguards in the rapidly evolving AI hardware sector.