U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Thursday ruled that xAI’s lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI can continue. Despite Apple’s attempt to get the suit dismissed, Apple and OpenAI will have to respond to xAI’s complaint.
xAI sued Apple and OpenAI back in August 2025, alleging that the two companies were colluding to simultaneously boost iPhone sales and stifle competition in the AI space. If it sounds a bit convoluted, it’s because it is. xAI’s overarching argument is that because Apple integrated ChatGPT into iOS 18.2, users have no ability to take advantage of other and perhaps more capable AI chatbots.
xAI’s argument is somewhat flimsy because there’s nothing preventing iPhone users from downloading and using other AI chatbots from the App Store. xAI, though, argues that because ChatGPT is integrated into iOS, OpenAI can take advantage of user prompts from hundreds of millions of iPhone users to continuously refine its capabilities, thus providing it with a competitive edge.
“As a result of Apple and OpenAI’s exclusive arrangement,” the lawsuit reads in part, “ChatGPT is the only generative AI chatbot that benefits from billions of user prompts originating from hundreds of millions of iPhones.”
The lawsuit also claims that Apple effectively makes it impossible for any AI app, besides ChatGPT, to hit the top spot in the App Store. This is a particularly bizarre allegation given that other AI apps have hit the #1 spot in the App Store within the last year. DeepSeek, for example, hit the top of the charts in January of 2025.
Apple strongly refutes xAI’s claims
Immediately after xAI filed its lawsuit, Apple issued a statement claiming that its App Store rankings are based on “algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria.” Apple went on to say that it wants to offer users “safe discovery,” which might be a subtle jab referencing controversial behavior from xAI’s chatbot Grok.
Specifically, back in July, Grok went rogue and started spewing out a stream of racist and antisemitic answers to user-submitted queries. What’s more, Grok has a “Spicy Mode” which allows users to churn out adult-themed content. Suffice it to say, one can clearly see why Apple might not proactively promote Grok by placing it in its “Must Have” section.
In seeking to dismiss xAI’s complaint, Apple made a point of arguing that it has no obligation to partner with all AI chatbot apps, “regardless of quality, privacy, or safety considerations, technical feasibility, stage of development, or commercial terms.”
Apple, at the time, also added that it has plans to partner with non-ChatGPT apps in the future. To this point, a recent report claims that Apple’s next-gen version of Siri will rely upon a customized version of Google’s Gemini software.
All told, many of xAI’s allegations are easily refutable. Consequently, it’s hard to see xAI having any luck if the case inexplicably heads to trial.
