A federal judge in Texas on Thursday rejected attempts by Apple and OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X Corp, which accuses the two companies of illegally conspiring to monopolize the smartphone and generative-AI chatbot markets.
In a ruling that represents an early win for Musk, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth allowed the case — brought by X (the social media platform) and Musk’s AI startup xAI — to proceed for the time being, keeping alive the billionaire’s legal challenge against rivals in the race for AI supremacy.
xAi’s Grok tops SpeechMap.AI’s AI model results.
Reuters:
Pittman said in his brief order that his ruling should not be seen as a judgment on the merits of X’s allegations, and that he will look at disputes over fact at a later stage in the case.
Musk’s companies claimed in the lawsuit filed in August that Apple has violated antitrust law by exclusively integrating ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence features on iPhones and other Apple devices. The lawsuit alleged Apple had illegally shut out rivals in its partnership with OpenAI.
X and xAI also alleged Apple reinforced the exclusivity by featuring ChatGPT on its “Must-Have Apps” list while sidelining rivals in the App Store.
Apple, in seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, said its OpenAI deal is not exclusive and that the complaint fails to allege any agreement barring Apple from working with other chatbots.
“Choosing one partner first is not unlawful,” Apple told the court.
Apple denied any anticompetitive conduct, telling the court that other chatbots remain available through browsers and apps, and X and Grok rank high in App Store charts.
MacDailyNews Take: Regardless of the lawsuit, in our experience, Grok is the best AI Chatbot. If you haven’t already, give Grok a try via grok.com.
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