法官命令 OpenAI 在苹果商业秘密诉讼中提交招聘记录

一名法官裁定，苹果可以加快获取 OpenAI 的招聘材料。这些材料涉及这家 iPhone 制造商于 7 月针对 OpenAI 提起的、以商业秘密为核心的诉讼。

具体而言，法院将允许苹果查阅与 OpenAI 面试苹果前员工有关的文件。这些人员曾申请 OpenAI 消费硬件和机器人部门的职位，面试发生在传闻中的 OpenAI 首款硬件设备推出之前。

这些文件可能包括面试清单、指南、指示、手册和脚本，以及技术演示材料和显示面试讨论曾涉及苹果技术或组件的记录。

法院认同苹果关于加快提交这些文件的请求，要求 OpenAI 在五天内交出已收集的材料，并在 14 天内提交与该请求相关的其他材料。

此案发生之际，OpenAI 正在开发一款消费硬件设备。如果这种 AI 设备成为消费者生活以及他们使用软件和服务的核心组成部分，它未来有可能与 iPhone 乃至更广泛的智能手机产品竞争。

苹果在诉讼中指控，OpenAI 存在一系列窃取行为。具体指控包括：苹果前员工使用苹果笔记本电脑下载机密材料，以及包含尚未发布的技术、功能和产品信息的文件，其中包括技术规格、工程演示文稿和专有项目数据。

苹果还指称，加入 OpenAI 的苹果前员工曾指导其他考虑从苹果跳槽至 OpenAI 的人，告诉他们面试时应携带哪些信息。

美国联邦地区法官 Edward Davila 并未批准苹果提出的所有加快获取与案件相关的 OpenAI 文件和消息的请求。但他裁定，苹果可以获取面试材料，以及涉案人员之间通过消息应用 LINE 发送的私人消息，相关人员包括 OpenAI 员工 Chang Liu 和 Alyssa Peng。

法官还批准对 Liu、Peng 以及第三人——OpenAI 首席硬件官 Tang Yew Tan——进行证言询问。三人均为苹果前员工。

不过，法官驳回了苹果关于加快获取 OpenAI 在金属表面处理和电源管理等特定领域研发资料的请求。他还驳回了苹果提出的若干范围更广的证据开示请求，例如获取 OpenAI 的硬件研究资料，或了解苹果前员工在 OpenAI 工作期间创造了什么的信息。

不过，这一驳回并非最终决定；法官为苹果缩小请求范围后再次提出申请留下了余地。

A judge has ruled that Apple will gain expedited access to OpenAI’s hiring materials in the trade secrets-focused lawsuit the iPhone maker filed against OpenAI in July.

Specifically, the court will allow Apple to view documents associated with OpenAI’s interviews with former Apple employees who applied for roles within its consumer hardware and robotics groups ahead of the rumored launch of OpenAI’s first hardware device.

These documents could include interview checklists, guides, instructions, manuals, and scripts, as well as technical presentations and records showing that interview discussions had included references to Apple technology or components.

The court gave OpenAI five days to turn over materials it has already collected and 14 days for any other materials related to this request, agreeing with Apple that these documents should be expedited.

The case comes as OpenAI develops a consumer hardware device that could one day potentially rival the iPhone — or smartphones more generally — if the AI device becomes a central part of consumers’ lives and how they engage with software and services.

In its lawsuit, Apple accused OpenAI of a pattern of theft, which includes direct complaints about former employees using Apple laptops to download confidential material and files that contained information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data.

Apple also said that former Apple employees at OpenAI coached others considering leaving Apple for OpenAI on what information to bring to their interviews, among other allegations.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila didn’t greenlight all of Apple’s requests for expedited access to OpenAI documents and messages relevant to the case. But he did rule that Apple could access the interview materials, alongside private LINE messages (from a messaging app) between individuals named in the case, including OpenAI employees Chang Liu and Alyssa Peng.

The judge also approved depositions for Liu and Peng, along with a third individual, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Yew Tan. All three are former Apple employees.

However, the judge denied Apple’s request to expedite its access to OpenAI’s research and development in specific areas, like metal finishes and power management. He also denied several of Apple’s broader discovery requests, like access to OpenAI’s hardware research or information about what its former employees created while working at OpenAI.

That denial isn’t final, though; the judge left the door open for Apple to narrow its requests and try again.