The dispute began in 2024, when Apple announced that ChatGPT would be integrated into iPhone features. Elon Musk denounced the arrangement as permission for OpenAI to install “creepy spyware” on users’ devices.¹

By 2025, X and SpaceXAI had turned that anger into an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. They alleged that the partnership gave the companies a monopoly over Apple users’ AI prompts and damaged competition in both chatbot and smartphone markets. Musk had also argued that Apple’s App Store practices made it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1,” calling that an “unequivocal antitrust violation.”¹

Apple’s answer was that the ChatGPT arrangement was not exclusive, while both Apple and OpenAI argued Musk’s businesses do not make smartphones and therefore lack standing to press claims tied to that market. Apple warned that Musk’s theory could turn routine supplier deals into antitrust hazards. OpenAI called the suit a harassment effort by a rival trying to catch up, noting that Musk had not identified a firm estimate of chatbot-market foreclosure.¹

Then came Monday’s filing. X and SpaceXAI said they had “resolved their claims” against Apple and agreed not to revive them, though the filing disclosed neither a settlement nor an explanation for the retreat. Crucially, they “do not seek to dismiss” their claims against OpenAI.²

That leaves the central fight intact as the narrowed case heads toward trial this fall. Musk’s companies can now focus their argument on whether OpenAI used the Apple deal to lock up the chatbot market—a claim OpenAI still flatly denies. The timing may matter: Apple was ordered this summer to produce internal messages about the partnership, material that could help Musk refine his case even after dropping Apple itself.¹