Apple requests dismissal of Elon Musk's absurd AI lawsuit Apfelpatient

Apple and Elon Musk are engaged in a legal battle that clearly demonstrates the extent to which artificial intelligence is preoccupying major tech companies. Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in the App Store, thereby violating antitrust law. Apple denies the allegations and has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

The core of the conflict lies in the collaboration between Apple and OpenAI. Apple currently uses ChatGPT as a fallback in Apple Intelligence when Siri cannot answer a query. Elon Musk considers this an unfair competitive advantage for OpenAI. His company, X Corp., is therefore demanding billions in damages and wants to force Apple to cooperate with his own company, xAI. Apple considers the lawsuit absurd and makes it clear that antitrust laws in no way stipulate such an obligation.

How it all began

A few weeks ago, Musk claimed that Apple was manipulating the AI rankings in the App Store in favor of OpenAI, making it impossible for any other company to claim the top spot. Musk argued that this was a clear violation of antitrust law. Based on this, xAI filed a lawsuit that went even further: Apple could not work exclusively with OpenAI without simultaneously granting the same terms to all other chatbot providers, regardless of differences in quality, privacy, security, or technical maturity.

Apple's reaction

Apple denies any wrongdoing. The company emphasized that X Corp.'s arguments lack legal merit. In a motion to the judge, it stated that antitrust laws do not require Apple to partner with every generative AI provider. At the same time, Apple made clear that it intends to cooperate with other AI companies in the future. The collaboration with OpenAI is not an exclusive model, but part of a broader strategy.

Contradictions in Musk

The dispute is further fueled by Musk's own past. Reports from 2023 indicate that he himself allegedly interfered with the functioning of the X algorithm in order to promote his own contributions more strongly. The accusation of distorting competition thus falls back on him to some extent. In addition, Musk's own Grok chatbot contradicted the allegations against Apple. The market is also evolving: New providers such as DeepSeek and Perplexity have launched, demonstrating that OpenAI is by no means without competition in the App Store.

What happens next

Apple formally filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit yesterday. The company argued that X Corp.'s demand that Apple cooperate with every AI vendor was "clearly nonsense." The decision now rests with the court. If the judge grants Apple's motion, the lawsuit could soon be dismissed. If, however, it goes to trial, fundamental questions about the collaboration between major tech companies and AI partners could be litigated.

Apple focuses on quality instead of forced cooperation

Apple is taking a clear stance. The integration of AI should be done responsibly and with an eye on quality, security, and data protection. The collaboration with OpenAI is a first step in this direction, but not the only one. Given the facts, Elon Musk's lawsuit appears contradictory and weakly founded. Whether the judge will accept Apple's argument will be decided in the coming weeks – with potential consequences for the entire AI and tech industry. (Image: Shutterstock / Skrypnykov Dmytro)