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Judge scrutinizes Musk’s move to drop Apple from antitrust lawsuit involving OpenAI

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Why This Matters

A federal judge is demanding transparency around a private settlement between Musk's companies and Apple that led to Apple being dropped from a high-profile antitrust suit also naming OpenAI. This scrutiny matters because it could reveal whether behind-the-scenes deals are shaping major tech antitrust litigation, with implications for how AI integration deals between Big Tech firms are legally challenged.

Key Takeaways

Federal judge Mark Pittman wants details on any agreement that may have led Elon Musk’s companies to drop their antitrust claims against Apple. Here are the details.

Judge wants to see any Apple agreement

Earlier this week, X and SpaceXAI submitted a motion to voluntarily dismiss with prejudice their claims against Apple in the case they brought against Apple and OpenAI last year.

According to the original filing, Apple and OpenAI were colluding to keep competing AI apps from gaining visibility on the App Store, as a result of their agreement to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence. Apple and OpenAI rejected the claims.

In its filing earlier this week, X and SpaceXAI said only that they had “resolved their claims in this Action against” Apple, stressing that they did not seek to dismiss their claims against OpenAI.

Now, as first reported by POLITICO, Judge Mark Pittman, who has been overseeing the case, has ordered X and SpaceXAI to provide the court with “any agreement or combination of agreements with Apple that relate to the resolution of Plaintiffs’ claims against Apple in this litigation.”

The order came in response to an emergency motion filed by OpenAI seeking to compel X and SpaceXAI to produce their agreement resolving the dispute with Apple. Pittman also ordered the companies to respond to OpenAI’s motion by noon on September 17.

You can read the full order below:

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