Apple Wins Early Access to OpenAI Hiring Records in Trade Secrets Fight
A federal judge has handed Apple an early procedural victory in its trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, granting the iPhone maker expedited access to a trove of hiring documents, private messages, and employee testimony as the two former partners square off over allegations of stolen hardware secrets.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, issued a mixed ruling on Apple's requests for expedited discovery, approving most of what the company sought while rejecting several broader demands as overreaching. The decision, handed down Tuesday, sets the stage for a preliminary injunction hearing Wednesday that will determine whether OpenAI must immediately stop using any confidential information allegedly obtained from Apple.
The lawsuit, filed in July in the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI of orchestrating a systematic campaign to extract proprietary information from Apple employees during job interviews and through former staffers who retained unauthorized access to internal systems. Apple named OpenAI, its hardware subsidiary io Products, and two former employees — Chang Liu, an ex-iPhone engineer, and Tang Yew Tan, formerly Apple's vice president of product design — as defendants.
Under the judge's order, OpenAI must produce documents within five days that it has already collected, with an additional 14 days to deliver any other materials responsive to the request. The records cover interviews conducted with former Apple employees who applied for positions within OpenAI's consumer hardware and robotics groups — hiring activity that occurred just before the rumored launch of OpenAI's first hardware device.
The document categories are specific and potentially revealing. They include interview checklists, guides, instruction manuals, and scripts used to conduct candidate interviews. They also encompass technical presentations, including "Technical Deep Dive" materials, that summarize or memorialize what was discussed during those interviews, along with any records showing that Apple technology or components were referenced in the conversations.
Apple has argued in court filings that OpenAI executives instructed job candidates to bring prototypes and other "design artifacts" to "show and tell" sessions during interviews. The company contends these practices were part of a deliberate effort to mine Apple's proprietary knowledge as OpenAI builds out its consumer hardware ambitions.
Beyond the hiring records, Davila authorized Apple to obtain private LINE messaging conversations between Liu and Alyssa Peng, another former Apple employee now at OpenAI, dating back to January 1, 2026. The judge also approved depositions of Liu, Peng, and Tan, as well as corporate representatives from OpenAI and io Products. All three named individuals previously worked at Apple, with Tan having led development of core products including the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
Apple's expedited discovery request also sought immediate access to OpenAI's research and development materials in several technical domains, including metal finishes, power management, and battery functionality for consumer hardware. Davila rejected that portion of the motion, ruling that those matters will proceed through the regular discovery schedule rather than the accelerated timeline. He similarly denied several broader requests, including access to OpenAI's overall hardware research and information about what former Apple employees have produced since joining the AI company.
The denials are not necessarily final. The judge indicated Apple may narrow the scope of its requests and resubmit them. That applies particularly to what Apple termed "Apple Originated Information," a category Davila found "amorphous as currently defined." Apple has five days to consult with the defendants and propose a more precise definition if it wants another attempt at those materials.
OpenAI had opposed the expedited discovery motion, arguing that Apple's demands were overly broad and unnecessary given that the standard discovery process was about to commence. The company has separately filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit entirely, which Davila is also expected to consider during Wednesday's hearing.
In its dismissal motion, OpenAI argues that Apple has failed to identify any specific trade secrets that were actually misappropriated, characterizing the lawsuit as an attempt to describe broad categories of hardware development information as proprietary. The company has also pushed back aggressively on the narrative Apple has constructed, arguing that the case actually exposes weaknesses in Apple's own security and human resources procedures rather than any wrongdoing by OpenAI.
A central point of contention involves Chang Liu's access to Apple systems after his departure. OpenAI has claimed that Apple encouraged employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work purposes, and that an authentication error left Liu with access to company files after he left. The company published private messages on its website in August showing that Apple employees continued contacting Liu after his departure, asking him to locate files and answer technical questions about previous projects.
Apple has dismissed the iCloud account issue as "wholly irrelevant" to its core allegations. The company's central claim is that Liu later exploited an authentication vulnerability to access Apple's network storage systems and download confidential files. According to the lawsuit, Liu retained an Apple-issued laptop when he left the company, and a system flaw allowed him to continue reading internal documents. Apple alleges that after joining OpenAI in January, Liu "secretly accessed and downloaded dozens of Apple confidential hardware files" over several weeks.
The stakes in the case extend beyond the specific allegations. Apple claims more than 400 former employees now work at OpenAI, and the company has argued in its filings that OpenAI's emerging hardware business is "built on the shakiest of foundations" with its core "corroded by illegally misappropriated trade secrets." OpenAI has countered that it "neither needs nor wants Apple's trade secrets" and that the lawsuit is an attempt to restrict employee mobility and recast ordinary job interviews as theft.
The legal battle marks a dramatic deterioration in a relationship that was celebrated just two years ago. In 2024, Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, a deal widely seen as a win-win that would compensate for Siri's limitations while giving OpenAI access to Apple's massive device ecosystem. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was a guest at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and Apple software chief Craig Federighi publicly praised OpenAI as a "pioneer and market leader" in AI.
That partnership has since frayed. OpenAI has been recruiting heavily from Apple's ranks, including securing the involvement of legendary designer Jony Ive in a new hardware project. The company is reportedly developing a device that relies on AI agents rather than traditional apps — a concept that, if realized, would compete directly with the iPhone's core logic. Reports earlier this year suggested OpenAI was dissatisfied with the financial terms of its Apple partnership and had even considered legal action.
Apple, meanwhile, has accelerated its own AI hardware development, working on smart glasses, pendant devices, and AirPods equipped with cameras. The two companies are now converging on the same competitive terrain.
Analysts watching the case note that the legal dispute could have consequences beyond the courtroom. Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight has observed that the relationship between the two companies is deteriorating, and that OpenAI's hardware plans could suffer regardless of whether Apple's allegations are ultimately proven. The preliminary injunction hearing Wednesday represents the first significant courtroom test of Apple's claims, and the outcome could shape the trajectory of the dispute for months to come.