The legal fight between Apple and OpenAI over trade secrets has taken a new step. A judge has ordered OpenAI to turn over hiring records in the case, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday.
Hiring records matter in trade-secrets litigation because they can show when employees moved between companies, what roles they took, and what they were recruited to build. An order compelling their production suggests the court sees the movement of people as central to Apple's claims.
The case is one of several running battles between the largest technology companies over artificial intelligence talent and know-how, where a single senior hire can carry knowledge worth more than a product line.
Neither the order nor the reporting decides the underlying dispute: Apple still has to prove its claims, and OpenAI can contest both the scope of the records and the allegations themselves as the case proceeds.
