Judge Orders OpenAI to Share Hiring Records in Apple Trade Secrets Lawsuit

In a significant early victory for Apple, a federal magistrate judge has sided with the iPhone maker in its escalating trade secrets battle with OpenAI, granting Apple access to a trove of sensitive hiring materials. According to the order issued this week, OpenAI must produce interview materials, evaluation notes, compensation discussions, and offer packages related to former Apple employees it hired or sought to hire. The ruling specifically targets the period at the center of Apple's complaint, when OpenAI was rapidly scaling its hardware and silicon teams. The judge found Apple's request was directly relevant and proportional to its claims that OpenAI induced former employees to bring proprietary information with them.