Key Points
- Apple and OpenAI are asking a judge to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit from Elon Musk’s xAI.
- The lawsuit claims the two companies have an “exclusive” deal that harms competition.
- Apple and OpenAI deny this, stating their agreement is “expressly not exclusive.” Musk’s xAI is seeking billions of dollars in damages.
- The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the ongoing rivalry between Musk and OpenAI.
Apple and OpenAI are asking a federal judge to throw out the antitrust lawsuit filed against them by Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI. In a court filing on Tuesday, the two companies argued that Musk’s claims are baseless and that their partnership does not harm competition in the AI space.
The lawsuit, filed in August, alleges that Apple and OpenAI have an “exclusive” deal that illegally thwarts competition. Musk’s xAI claims that this is the only reason Apple doesn’t feature his X social media app and Grok AI chatbot more prominently in its App Store. The lawsuit is seeking billions of dollars in damages.
In their response, Apple and OpenAI denied the accusation flatly. “Apple and OpenAI’s agreement is expressly not exclusive,” Apple’s lawyers wrote in the filing. They pointed out that Apple has publicly stated its intention to partner with other AI chatbot companies in the future.
The partnership in question involves integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT directly into Apple’s operating systems for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple and OpenAI argue that this integration doesn’t prevent other AI companies from competing and that Musk’s lawsuit fails to show any real harm to the market.
This is just the latest battle in the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI, a company he co-founded but later left.
