Elon Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI have resolved their antitrust claims against Apple, ending one portion of a lawsuit accusing Apple and OpenAI of conspiring to monopolize the markets for smartphones and generative AI chatbots.
X and SpaceXAI asked a federal court in Texas on Monday to dismiss their claims against Apple with prejudice, preventing those claims from being refiled. Apple did not oppose the request.
“Plaintiffs have resolved their claims in this Action against Defendant Apple Inc.,” attorneys for Musk’s companies wrote in the filing, which did not disclose the terms of the resolution.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman granted the motion Monday while leaving the companies’ claims against OpenAI intact.
The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that Apple violated antitrust law by integrating ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence features on iPhones and other devices. Musk’s companies argued that the partnership strengthened OpenAI’s position in the generative AI market while limiting competition from rival chatbots.
The resolution has raised an immediate question about its potential effect on the remaining case.
OpenAI said in a separate court filing that it was not involved in the discussions between Apple and Musk’s companies and does not know the contents of their agreement. Its attorneys asked X and SpaceXAI to produce the agreement and sought a 14-day extension of Tuesday’s deadline to file a motion for summary judgment.
OpenAI argued that the terms could significantly affect its defenses, including its contention that its agreement with Apple did not prevent the company from holding business discussions with Musk’s companies or other competitors.
X and SpaceXAI agreed to the deadline extension but had not agreed to produce the Apple agreement as of Monday’s filing, according to OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker said it would seek the court’s intervention if it could not obtain the document promptly.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before leaving its board in 2018. He has since become one of the company’s most vocal critics and founded xAI, the developer of the competing Grok chatbot.
Neither Apple nor OpenAI immediately responded to TheWrap’s requests for comment. Reuters first reported the resolution Monday.
