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Judge Gives Apple Expedited Discovery in Trade Secrets Case: OpenAI Has 5 Days to Hand Over Hardware Hiring Records

Business · By: AIReport Admin · 1 hour ago · 👁 6
Judge Gives Apple Expedited Discovery in Trade Secrets Case: OpenAI Has 5 Days to Hand Over Hardware Hiring Records

A federal judge ordered OpenAI to turn over hiring records tied to former Apple employees who joined its consumer hardware and robotics teams, fast-tracking discovery in the trade secrets suit Apple filed in July. OpenAI has five days to produce collected materials and 14 days for the rest, and depositions were approved for two OpenAI employees and its chief hardware officer, all former Apple staff.

A federal judge has ordered OpenAI to hand over hiring records in Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, a partial but significant win for the iPhone maker as discovery accelerates in a case that strikes at the heart of OpenAI's rumored consumer hardware ambitions. The order, issued October 13, forces the AI company to open up its recruiting files on a compressed timeline.

US District Judge Edward Davila granted expedited discovery on a narrow set of materials: OpenAI must produce, within five days, the documents it has already collected related to interviews with former Apple employees who applied to its consumer hardware and robotics groups, and within 14 days any other materials covered by the request. Those records may include interview checklists, guides, instructions, manuals and scripts, technical presentations, and records showing that interview discussions referenced Apple technology or components.

The judge also let Apple access private messages exchanged over LINE, a messaging app, between individuals named in the case, including OpenAI employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng. Both are former Apple employees, as is OpenAI's chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan — and Davila approved depositions for all three, giving Apple's lawyers a direct line into how its rival recruits away hardware talent.

Apple sued OpenAI in July 2026, alleging a pattern of trade secret theft. Among the claims: former Apple employees used Apple laptops to download confidential material, including files describing unannounced technologies, features and products such as technical specifications, engineering presentations and proprietary project data. Apple also alleges that ex-Apple staff coached other employees considering a move to OpenAI on what information to bring into their interviews. OpenAI has called the case "baseless and pretextual" and says its hiring practices are standard industry procedures, insisting it has no interest in Apple confidential information.

Davila did not grant everything Apple wanted. He denied the request to expedite access to OpenAI's research and development in specific areas such as metal finishes and power management, and rejected several broader discovery requests, including access to OpenAI's hardware research and to what former Apple employees produced after joining OpenAI. Those denials are not final — the judge left the door open for Apple to narrow its requests and try again.

The stakes are considerable. The discovery centers on OpenAI's effort to build a consumer hardware device, a product that — if it becomes a central way people interact with software and services — could one day rival the iPhone. The five-day and 14-day production clocks are now running, and whatever surfaces in interview scripts and LINE threads could shape both the litigation and public understanding of how aggressively frontier AI companies recruit hardware engineers.

The case is also a bellwether for the AI talent wars. As labs and consumer-tech giants collide over the same small pool of hardware and robotics talent, hiring records have become evidence, and courts are increasingly willing to fast-track requests that map who moved where and what they carried with them. Expect Apple to renew its broader requests in narrower form — and expect OpenAI to keep fighting each one.

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