Apple Moves to Dismiss Elon Musk's Antitrust Lawsuit Over OpenAI Partnership

Apple hits back at Musk after xAI sues over OpenAI partnership

Apple has hit back at Elon Musk over his claims its partnership with OpenAI to build ChatGPT directly into the iPhone is stunting AI industry competition. In court documents filed on Tuesday and seen by Bloomberg, Apple's lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Musk's companies xAI and X Corp, decrying claims they have been harmed as "speculation on top of speculation." In August, Musk's companies filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of rigging App Store rankings against chatbots and apps competing with OpenAI, including Grok and X. Apple's lawyers said Musk's AI and social media companies had done nothing to "plausibly" stand up their allegations, explaining that the agreement with OpenAI is "expressly not exclusive." In any instance, Apple's lawyers said it is also "widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots," adding that competition law does not require it to simultaneously partner "with every other generative AI chatbot" on the market, regardless of quality.

Apple Moves to Dismiss Elon Musk's xAI Lawsuit Over OpenAI Partnership

With over a decade of experience reporting on consumer technology, James covers mobile phones, apps, operating systems, wearables, AI, and more. Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. Back in August, Elon Musk accused Apple of anti-competitive favoritism in its App Store charts. He suggested the brand's partnership with OpenAI meant rivals were unable to knock its ChatGPT app from the top spot in the iPhone charts. Musk's xAI then moved to sue Apple, despite the manufacturer denying favoritism. Now, Apple has responded with an attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. Apple's lawyers say in a new court filing, reported by Bloomberg, that the company did nothing wrong partnering with OpenAI to use ChatGPT on its services. The lawyers say xAI's lawsuit suggests Apple would have to have a partnership with "every other generative AI chatbot - regardless of quality, privacy or safety considerations, technical feasibility, stage of development, or commercial terms." The motion to dismiss also says the antitrust injuries cited by xAI are based on "speculation on top of speculation." Elsewhere in the motion, Apple's lawyers say it's "widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots" away from OpenAI. This likely refers to rumors of the brand partnering with Google's Gemini tools to help power the future of Siri. It's currently unclear what the next step in the lawsuit will be. The motion to dismiss was submitted to a judge in Fort Worth, Texas. The lawsuit began when Musk first accused Apple of stifling competition in its App Store. He said on X, Apple was "behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." DeepSeek had briefly taken the top spot in Apple's App Store when it launched in January 2025. Soon after Musk's comments, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded. He said, "This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like." Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Apple asks judge to dismiss absurd AI claim by Elon Musk - 9to5Mac

Apple has asked a judge to dismiss a patently absurd claim made by Elon Musk that the iPhone maker is legally obliged to strike a partnership with his xAI company. Musk's X Corp is seeking billions of dollars in damages from Apple, claiming that it illegally favors OpenAI's ChatGPT ... Things kicked off a few weeks ago when Musk claimed that Apple was favoring OpenAI in the App Store's AI rankings. Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any Al company besides OpenAl to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI followed this with a lawsuit which went even further, by claiming that it was an antitrust violation for Apple to partner with OpenAI without also partnering with other chatbot companies. Apple Intelligence currently uses ChatGPT as a fallback when Siri is unable to answer a query. Apple denied any wrongdoing, and even X's own Grok chatbot disagreed with Musk. Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right. Musk's Apple antitrust claim is undermined by apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity reaching in 2025. Conversely, Musk has a history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his posts and favor his interests, per 2023 reports and ongoing probes. Hypocrisy noted. Apple yesterday asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, reports Bloomberg. The company said X's claim that the Cupertino company had to form partnerships with every player in this field was clearly nonsense, and that it did in any case intend to partner with other companies.

Apple Files Motion to Dismiss xAI Lawsuit Over ChatGPT Deal

Apple has filed a court motion to dismiss Elon Musk's lawsuit alleging the company conspired with OpenAI to stifle competition in the AI market, arguing the antitrust claims are based on "speculation on top of speculation." In a Texas filing Tuesday, Apple's lawyers defended the company's decision to integrate ChatGPT into iOS, claiming it did nothing wrong in selecting OpenAI as its initial generative AI partner. The filing says it is "widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots" beyond OpenAI in the future. The motion likely refers to reports that Apple is working to integrate other chatbots like Gemini into Siri. Indeed, Google CEO Sundar Pichai earlier this year commented about talks with Apple on this very subject. Apple argued that xAI's lawsuit essentially demands the company partner with "every other generative AI chatbot - regardless of quality, privacy or safety considerations, technical feasibility, stage of development, or commercial terms." Apple's lawyers noted that antitrust laws do not require such an approach. Musk's xAI and X (Twitter) sued Apple and OpenAI in August, seeking billions in damages over claims that Apple's partnership with OpenAI stifled AI industry innovation and limited consumer choice. The lawsuit specifically cited X and Grok's absence from the App Store's "Must Have" section and ChatGPT's exclusive integration with Siri.

Apple, OpenAI tell judge to dismiss Elon Musk's App Store lawsuit

"Speculation on top of speculation" can be used to describe any number of Elon Musk's daily posts on his social media platform X. However, in this particular case, that's how Apple's lawyers are responding to X Corp.'s lawsuit against the company, which alleges rigged App Store charts and favoritism towards certain AI apps. On Tuesday, Apple filed its response to Musk and his company, asking the judge to outright dismiss the case. Musk's company filed a lawsuit against Apple back in August. X Corp. claimed that Apple was "working in tandem" with ChatGPT creator OpenAI in order to "maintain their monopolies." This followed Musk taking to -- where else? -- X to openly accuse Apple and OpenAI of rigging the App Store against xAI and Grok. In his suit, Musk alleged that Apple was preventing his companies and products from fairly competing. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The lawsuit specifically singled out Apple's deal with OpenAI, in which ChatGPT powers some of the company's Apple Intelligence features. However, according to Apple's lawyers, its deal with OpenAI is not "exclusive." "Apple and OpenAI's agreement is expressly not exclusive, and it is public and widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots," Apple's lawyers said. OpenAI's lawyers also responded to Musk's lawsuit against them, claiming Musk is engaging in "a campaign of lawfare" and also asked the judge to dismiss the case. X Corp. claimed that Apple's partnership with OpenAI meant that Apple had to "simultaneously" partner "with every other generative AI chatbot." Apple's lawyers scoffed at the idea, responding simply that " antitrust laws do not require that." Musk also alleged in the lawsuit that Apple was rigging the App Store rankings in favor of ChatGPT and hurting Musk's apps like X and Grok. When Musk first posted his theory that Apple was rigging the App Store against Grok, X users were quick to point out that numerous other AI apps have hit the top of the App Store rankings. (Musk's theory was also refuted by Community Notes.) Most recently, Gemini has been dominating App Store charts thanks to the runaway success of Nano Banana, an AI image editor.

Apple, OpenAI ask US judge to dismiss Musk's suit over AI competition, App Store rankings - The Economic Times

Apple and ChatGPT owner OpenAI on Tuesday asked a U.S. federal judge to dismiss a case filed by billionaire Elon Musk's xAI, which had accused them of illegally conspiring to thwart competition in the field of artificial intelligence. In a lawsuit filed in August, xAI had said that Apple would have no reason to refrain from more prominently featuring the X app and the Grok app in its App Store if not for its "exclusive" deal with OpenAI. Musk's company sought billions of dollars in alleged damages. "Apple and OpenAI's agreement is expressly not exclusive, and it is public and widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots," lawyers for Apple said in a court filing on Tuesday, while asking the judge to dismiss the case. Musk's AI startup xAI and social media X do not "plausibly allege" that the integration of ChatGPT into Apple devices harms competition, they added. Apple in partnership with OpenAI has integrated ChatGPT into its operating system for iPhones, iPads and Macs. xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours on Apple and OpenAI seeking dismissal of the suit.

Apple and OpenAI seek dismissal of Elon Musk's xAI lawsuit By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Apple and OpenAI filed motions on Tuesday asking a U.S. federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's xAI, which accused the companies of illegally conspiring to stifle competition in the artificial intelligence market. In August, xAI filed a lawsuit claiming Apple would have featured the X app and Grok app more prominently in its App Store if not for an "exclusive" arrangement with OpenAI. Musk's company sought billions of dollars in damages. Apple's lawyers argued in Tuesday's court filing that "Apple and OpenAI's agreement is expressly not exclusive, and it is public and widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots." They stated that Musk's AI startup xAI and social media platform X do not "plausibly allege" that integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices harms competition. The partnership between Apple and OpenAI has resulted in ChatGPT being integrated into the operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Macs. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.