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Judge orders OpenAI to hand over interview records of former Apple staff
Apple can also question OpenAI's chief hardware officer under oath, but a California court turned down its wider requests for OpenAI's hardware research.
Key points
- Judge Edward Davila gave Apple fast-track access to interview materials for ex-Apple applicants.
- Apple can depose OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan and two other former Apple staff.
- Requests for OpenAI's research on metal finishes and power management were refused for now.
A federal judge in California has ordered OpenAI to give Apple the interview records of former Apple employees who applied to work on its hardware and robotics teams, in the iPhone maker’s trade secrets lawsuit against the ChatGPT company.
US District Judge Edward Davila granted Apple expedited access to the material, which can include interview checklists, guides, scripts and technical presentations, as well as any records showing that interviews touched on Apple technology or components. Apple will also see private messages on the LINE app between people named in the case, including OpenAI employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng.
Apple may question Liu, Peng and Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, under oath. All three used to work at Apple.
OpenAI has five days to hand over material it has already gathered and 14 days for the rest.
What Apple did not get
The judge refused, for now, Apple’s request for quick access to OpenAI’s research and development in specific areas such as metal finishes and power management. He also turned down several broader demands, including details of what the former Apple staff have built since joining OpenAI. Apple can narrow those requests and try again.
The case
Apple sued OpenAI in July. It alleges a pattern of theft in which former employees used Apple laptops to download confidential files on unannounced products and features, including technical specifications and engineering presentations. It also claims that former Apple staff at OpenAI coached others thinking of leaving Apple on what information to bring to their interviews.
The dispute comes as OpenAI develops a consumer hardware device that could compete with the iPhone. The ruling was made public on the same day US prosecutors announced charges against an OpenAI employee accused of hiding a recording device in an executive meeting room at the company’s San Francisco office.