Musk's xAI drops antitrust lawsuit against Apple

Elon Musk's xAI and X Corp. have voluntarily dismissed their antitrust claims against Apple Inc., resolving a dispute over Apple's integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT into iOS. US District Judge Mark Pittman approved the dismissal on September 14, 2026, with Musk agreeing not to refile the claims against Apple. However, the antitrust lawsuit continues against OpenAI, which Musk accuses of attempting to monopolize the chatbot market. OpenAI has dismissed the litigation as a baseless attempt to harass a rival.

xAI lawsuit dismissal against Apple

• ▪Elon Musk's xAI and X Corp. voluntarily dismissed their antitrust lawsuit against Apple Inc. on September 14, 2026
• ▪Under the voluntary dismissal filed on September 14, 2026, Elon Musk agreed to never raise the dismissed antitrust claims against Apple Inc. again
• ▪US District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, granted the request by xAI and X Corp. to dismiss their antitrust case against Apple Inc. on September 14, 2026
• ▪The September 14, 2026 court filing did not disclose any negotiated settlement terms or explain why xAI and X Corp. sought a voluntary dismissal of Apple Inc

Apple-OpenAI ChatGPT integration dispute

• ▪Elon Musk's 2025 lawsuit against Apple Inc. and OpenAI alleged anticompetitive conduct regarding their partnership to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's iOS operating system
• ▪In 2024, Elon Musk criticized the Apple-OpenAI integration partnership, claiming it allowed OpenAI to install "creepy spyware" on Apple devices
• ▪Elon Musk's lawsuit claimed the Apple-OpenAI partnership created a monopoly on Apple users' AI prompts, harming competition in smartphone and chatbot markets

Musk's App Store antitrust allegations

• ▪In August 2025, Elon Musk claimed Apple Inc. committed an antitrust violation by making it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the top of the App Store rankings
• ▪Elon Musk believed his chatbot, Grok, was being illegally blocked from topping Apple's App Store rankings

Continuing litigation against OpenAI

• ▪OpenAI rejected Elon Musk's antitrust claims as baseless, noting that Musk's lawsuit estimated the foreclosed chatbot market share at anywhere from 0 to 55 percent
• ▪Elon Musk plans to advance claims that OpenAI relied on its deal with Apple Inc. to monopolize the chatbot market
• ▪The voluntary dismissal filed on September 14, 2026, specified that X Corp. and xAI are continuing their antitrust litigation against OpenAI

xAI competitive positioning

• ▪OpenAI characterized Elon Musk's lawsuit as an attempt to harass OpenAI while Musk's rival artificial intelligence firm, xAI, races to catch up
• ▪Apple Inc. emphasized that its ChatGPT integration partnership with OpenAI was never exclusive

Debatable claims

• ▪Elon Musk's antitrust lawsuit against OpenAI is a legitimate defense of market competition
• ▪Apple's integration of ChatGPT into iOS unfairly harms competing AI developers
• ▪Apple's App Store ranking system unfairly disadvantages rival AI applications