Elon Musk's X and SpaceXAI Withdraw Antitrust Claims Against Apple While Maintaining Lawsuit Against OpenAI

Elon Musk’s technology firms X Corp and SpaceXAI have formally ended their legal action against Apple, abruptly withdrawing antitrust claims that accused the consumer electronics giant of colluding with OpenAI to monopolize the generative artificial intelligence sector.

According to a legal notice filed in federal court on Monday, the two Musk-led entities submitted a motion to dismiss all pending causes of action directed at Apple. The brief court filing provided no explanation for the strategic withdrawal, nor did it disclose whether Apple and the plaintiffs had engaged in negotiations or entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.

Despite dismissing Apple from the legal dispute, the plaintiffs confirmed that their broader litigation remains active. X Corp and SpaceXAI intend to continue pursuing their antitrust lawsuit against OpenAI, leaving the creator of ChatGPT to face the allegations as the sole remaining defendant in the case.

The dispute originated in August 2025, when X Corp and SpaceXAI initiated proceedings in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth. The lawsuit targeted the commercial partnership formed between Apple and OpenAI, alleging that the collaboration violated both federal and state antitrust statutes by creating an exclusionary ecosystem for generative AI.

At the core of the plaintiffs' complaint was the assertion that Apple designed its mobile operating system to exclusively feature ChatGPT, effectively locking out alternative artificial intelligence systems from the hundreds of millions of iPhones used globally. Musk’s companies argued that this exclusive integration established an unfair barrier to entry for competing developers.

SpaceXAI, which produces the rival generative chatbot Grok, joined X Corp in contending that Apple’s integration granted OpenAI unprecedented access to billions of prospective consumer prompts. These interactions were channeled through vital native device functions, including Apple’s virtual assistant Siri, its system-wide Writing Tools, and camera-enabled features on the iPhone.

The plaintiffs argued that this exclusive access to daily user interactions gave OpenAI an insurmountable advantage. Under the dynamics of generative AI development, access to immense volumes of live user prompts is crucial for refining models, expanding system capabilities, and achieving sustainable commercial scale—opportunities that X Corp and SpaceXAI argued were systematically denied to competing AI developers.

Beyond native operating system integration, the lawsuit leveled accusations against Apple’s stewardship of its digital distribution ecosystem. The plaintiffs alleged that Apple engaged in anticompetitive App Store management, specifically by manipulating search visibility and ranking algorithms while subjecting rival AI applications to unwarranted delays during the app review process.

The legal complaint framed these actions as a concerted effort by Apple and OpenAI to leverage their respective dominance across consumer hardware and artificial intelligence software. By combining their market positions, the companies allegedly reinforced one another’s dominance in violation of the federal Sherman Antitrust Act and Texas state antitrust legislation.

The litigation had previously advanced past initial procedural hurdles despite pushback from the defense. Both Apple and OpenAI had filed motions seeking to dismiss the case last year, arguing that the claims lacked legal merit. However, US District Judge Mark Pittman denied those dismissal requests in November, ruling that the plaintiffs had presented sufficient grounds for the lawsuit to move forward into further proceedings.

In response to the litigation, OpenAI had characterized the dispute as part of a continuous pattern of hostile legal actions initiated by Musk. In filings submitted before the court, OpenAI asserted that the billionaire was conducting a dedicated "campaign of lawfare" intended to undermine the company's market position through aggressive legal challenges.

The Fort Worth proceeding represents one of several legal battles Musk has waged against OpenAI since parting ways with the organisation he helped establish. Musk previously filed a separate lawsuit claiming that OpenAI had violated its foundational charter by prioritising commercial profitability over its original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the broad benefit of humanity.

That previous breach-of-mission case concluded earlier in the year when OpenAI secured a complete legal victory, successfully defeating Musk’s claims in court in May. Despite that setback, Musk maintained his antitrust offensive regarding the smartphone integration agreements until Monday's unexpected dismissal of claims against Apple.

The scrutiny surrounding OpenAI's distribution pacts reflects the historic speed of the company's commercial ascent. Following its public debut in late 2022, ChatGPT rapidly set records as the fastest-growing consumer application in history, triggering intense competition among tech companies seeking to secure platform distribution deals and maintain relevance in the generative AI market.

With Apple now removed from the lawsuit, the legal battle in Texas turns strictly into a direct confrontation between Musk's enterprises and OpenAI. The remaining proceedings are set to examine whether OpenAI's commercial distribution arrangements breach antitrust standards, even as Apple steps away from the courtroom conflict.