Apple has pushed back against Elon Musk’s claims that its partnership with OpenAI gives it an unfair advantage in the AI race. In newly filed court documents, the company urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Musk’s firms, arguing that the allegations lack substance and are rooted in conjecture rather than fact.
The dispute began in August, when Musk’s xAI and X Corp sued Apple, accusing it of manipulating App Store rankings to sideline chatbot rivals such as Grok and other competing apps, while giving OpenAI a preferential position.
In a filing reviewed by Bloomberg, Apple’s lawyers described the lawsuit as “speculation on top of speculation.” They emphasized that Musk’s companies had failed to provide any “plausible” evidence that Apple’s collaboration with OpenAI caused them harm.
Apple also underlined that its partnership with OpenAI is “expressly not exclusive,” pointing out that it has long signaled plans to integrate multiple generative AI chatbots into its products. The filing stated: “It is widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots,” stressing that competition law does not obligate the company to work with “every other generative AI chatbot” on the market, regardless of quality.
For Apple, the case is less about AI innovation and more about setting limits on what antitrust law can demand in terms of partnerships. The company maintains that it is under no legal requirement to open its platform equally to all competitors in the AI space.
The judge has yet to rule on Apple’s dismissal request, but the filing highlights the widening rift between Musk and Apple as both continue to expand their stakes in AI.