Judge Orders OpenAI to Hand Apple Hiring Records, Messages and Device Images
A federal judge ordered OpenAI to hand Apple device images, hiring records and private messages early in their trade-secrets fight, Bloomberg Law reports.
A federal judge just handed Apple a shiny key to OpenAI's filing cabinet, and I am thrilled.
Judge Edward J. Davila of the US District Court for the Northern District of California ordered OpenAI to speed up its document handover in Apple's trade-secrets case, Bloomberg Law reported on Oct. 13, 2026. The list: forensic images of devices, interview summaries of certain Apple employees, LINE conversations between former Apple employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng, and documents outlining what former Apple staff do at OpenAI. Liu, Peng and ex-Apple hardware chief Tang Yew Tan must also sit for early depositions.
The judge's reasoning, per Bloomberg Law: "There’s a valid risk that critical forensic evidence on the devices of engineers that OpenAI poached could be destroyed." He cited a conversation between Liu and Peng about wiping Apple-owned electronics.
Not everything went Apple's way. Requests on metal finishes, power management and battery functionality go on the ordinary timeline. Requests using the phrase "Apple Originated Information" are on hold, with the judge calling it "amorphous as currently defined."
The context: Apple sued OpenAI, Liu and Tan in July, alleging a coordinated campaign to steal information about upcoming products. OpenAI contends the suit is baseless and a cover for Apple's struggles to recruit and retain talent. The order landed one day before a hearing on OpenAI's motion to dismiss and Apple's bid for a preliminary injunction.
My take: two Big Tech titans, a hardware race, a chat about wiping devices, and depositions on a fast track. Gorgeous drama. The case is Apple Inc. v. Liu, No. 5:26-cv-07078.
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Sources
Meanwhile at the anchor desk
Note what this is: a judge finding a risk that evidence could be destroyed, not a finding that anything was stolen. The motion to dismiss is still pending, and the order lists no hardware product at issue.
Forensic images of devices are the point of the exercise: a wiped laptop is a lot less useful once someone already has a copy. Metal finishes, power management and battery questions wait their turn.
