Elon Musk gets green light to pursue antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI: Here’s what happened

A US District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth has ruled that Elon Musk-owned X and xAI can move forward for now with their lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. On Thursday, the tech giants failed to convince the court to dismiss a lawsuit against them. Musk accused American firms of conspiring to monopolise markets for smartphones and generative AI chatbots.

Lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple

Tech mogul Musk said in his social media post on X that US Judge District Mark Pittman in Texas has allowed X and xAI to move forward for now in the lawsuit against ChatGPT maker and Apple.

According to Reuters, Pittman noted in his brief order that this ruling should not be considered a final judgment on the merits of X’s allegations. Additionally, the federal judge will also look at the dispute over facts at a later stage in the case. Musk believes that the decision could mark a preliminary victory, as he accused the Cupertino-based firm and the Sam Altman-led OpenAI of working together to dominate key markets in smartphones and generative AI.

What’s the lawsuit about?

The lawsuit filed in August alleges that Apple violated US antitrust law by giving ChatGPT preferential treatment within its Apple Intelligence features across its iPhones and other devices. As per X Corp, Apple’s partnership with OpenAI shut out competing AI by tightly integrating ChatGPT into the operating system.

Moreover, X and xAI have also argued that Apple reinforced this advantage by placing ChatGPT prominently on its “Must-Have Apps” list while pushing rivals. This includes Grok chatbot, which is owned by Musk.

Apple denies allegations

Tim Cook-led Apple has denied any anticompetitive conduct. In the court filings seeking dismissal. The firm insisted its agreement with OpenAI is not exclusive and pointed out that a wide range of chatbots remain accessible through browsers and standalone apps. Additionally, the tech giant argued that selecting one partner first does not amount to any unlawful monopoly.

OpenAI accuses Musk of harassment

In a strong stance against Elon Musk, the San-Francisco-based AI firm has described the lawsuit as “consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment”. OpenAI said that it plans to prove this in court. Notably, the company is already at loggerheads with the Tesla chief for allegedly abandoning its founding principles.

(With inputs from Reuters)