Musk drops Apple from antitrust suit, but keeps fighting OpenAI

Elon Musk has decided to end his legal battle against Apple over the company's decision to integrate ChatGPT into iPhone features, though he continues to pursue OpenAI over the same partnership.

Musk first criticized the deal in 2024 when it was announced, calling it an arrangement that let OpenAI install "creepy spyware" on devices. The following year he filed suit, arguing the partnership gave Apple and OpenAI a "monopoly" over users' AI prompts, harming competition in both the smartphone and chatbot markets. The dispute intensified after Musk came to believe his own chatbot, Grok, was being illegally kept from topping Apple's App Store rankings. Last August he claimed Apple was acting in a way that made it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach the top spot, calling it a clear antitrust violation.

However, in a Monday court filing, Musk confirmed that all claims against Apple have been resolved. The filing does not specify whether any settlement was reached or why the dismissal was sought voluntarily. What is clear is that Musk agreed never to raise these claims against Apple again, while notably declining to drop identical claims against OpenAI.

Musk now appears set to pursue arguments that OpenAI used the arrangement to monopolize the chatbot market, even though Apple has emphasized the deal was never exclusive. OpenAI has already dismissed Musk's suit as an attempt to harass the company while his rival AI venture, now called SpaceXAI, tries to catch up. OpenAI has pointed out that Musk has not offered a precise estimate of what share of the market the deal allegedly forecloses, citing figures ranging from 0 to 55 percent based on rough calculations.