Apple and OpenAI will face an antitrust lawsuit brought by Elon Musk’s X Corp after a federal judge declined to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ruled that X and its AI unit, xAI, may proceed with their claims that Apple conspired with OpenAI to monopolize smartphone and generative AI chatbot markets. Pittman stated in his short order that his decision should not be taken as any indication of how he views the validity of X’s allegations, and he added that he will address the factual disputes at a later stage in the proceedings. OpenAI responded to the ruling by calling the lawsuit “consistent with Mr. Musk's ongoing pattern of harassment and we look forward to proving this in court.”
The lawsuit alleges Apple violated antitrust law by integrating ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence features and favoring it in App Store placements. Apple argued that its arrangement with OpenAI is not exclusive, telling the court that “choosing one partner first is not unlawful.” X and xAI also claim Apple’s approach sidelined rivals, while OpenAI accused Musk of waging “a campaign of lawfare.” The case continues as Musk expands his AI efforts, including integrating xAI’s Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles.
