Full Breakdown
OpenAI Seeks Dismissal of xAI Antitrust Suit, Citing Weak Apple Siri Integration
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Motion to Throw Out Antitrust Lawsuit
On September 23, OpenAI filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas asking Judge Mark Pittman to dismiss the antitrust case brought by Elon Musk’s AI venture, now operating as SpaceXAI (formerly xAI). The filing argues that disclosures made by SpaceX in its recent securities registration undermine the plaintiffs’ claim that Apple’s partnership with OpenAI harmed competition.
Background & Context
In late 2024, OpenAI and Apple announced that ChatGPT would be embedded in Apple’s “Apple Intelligence” feature of Siri. The rollout required users to enable the service through a multi-step opt-in flow, creating friction that OpenAI later described as a “slow start.” OpenAI had anticipated a “halo effect” from Apple’s brand and projected additional weekly active users from the integration. By early 2025 the company cut those forecasts, and by the summer of 2025 concluded that the partnership was “dramatically underperforming.”
Elon Musk’s xAI filed the antitrust suit in August 2025, alleging that Apple and OpenAI had an exclusive agreement that barred rival generative-AI models from iPhone users and stunted xAI’s growth. The complaint also claimed that Apple was trying to suppress “super apps” such as Musk’s envisioned “everything app.”
Data & Statistics
OpenAI’s expert witness, Dr. Catherine Tucker, calculated the share of generative-AI consumers who accessed ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence across several metrics. Although the exact numbers are redacted, the filing characterizes the share as “indisputably de minimis,” aligning with OpenAI’s internal view that usage was minimal. The company also noted that its forecast for incremental logged-in weekly active users was reduced shortly after launch.
Official Statements & Responses
- OpenAI: The filing asserts that the contract with Apple was expressly non-exclusive, granting Apple the right to integrate other services offering similar functionality. OpenAI contends that even if the agreement had been exclusive, the negligible usage means any alleged foreclosure is legally insignificant.
- SpaceX/ xAI: The plaintiffs maintain that the alleged exclusivity locked out competitors and harmed xAI’s ability to acquire users. Their argument relies on the premise that Apple’s integration gave ChatGPT a dominant position on iOS devices.
- Apple: Public statements and the contract language confirm that Apple retained the ability to add additional AI providers. Apple later partnered with Google, incorporating Gemini models into newer Siri iterations, indicating that the Apple-OpenAI deal was never exclusive.
Criticism & Opposition
xAI’s lawsuit itself serves as the primary opposition, asserting that Apple’s partnership with OpenAI was exclusive and that the arrangement suppressed competition. No additional named critics or expert dissenters were identified in the source material.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The court documents contain extensive redactions, including the precise foreclosure percentages calculated by Dr. Tucker and the content of a March 2026 conversation between Apple and OpenAI. Because the redacted data are unavailable, the exact magnitude of ChatGPT’s usage on Apple devices remains unclear.
What’s Next
OpenAI’s motion seeks a pre-trial ruling, aiming for dismissal before the trial scheduled for January 2027. The outcome will determine whether the case proceeds to examine the broader question of AI model access on major mobile platforms.