xAI wins partial court backing in Apple-OpenAI antitrust fight, Tim Cook excluded from discovery order – Storyboard18

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A US court has handed Elon Musk-owned xAI a partial win in its expanding antitrust battle against Apple and OpenAI, allowing the company to seek documents from Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi while declining to extend the same order to CEO Tim Cook.
The lawsuit centres on allegations that Apple and OpenAI unfairly favoured ChatGPT through Siri integration and broader decisions tied to the AI ecosystem and App Store visibility. Apple has denied the allegations and maintained that its collaboration with OpenAI is not exclusive.
In a court filing, Judge Hal R. Ray Jr. ruled that xAI had provided enough justification to add Federighi as a document custodian because of his senior role overseeing software engineering and his involvement in decisions related to Apple Intelligence and OpenAI integration. Apple has now been directed to produce relevant records linked to Federighi by June 17, 2026.
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However, the court refused xAI’s request to include Tim Cook in the discovery process. The judge said the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that Cook possessed unique information that could not already be obtained from Federighi or other sources involved in the matter.
The court also narrowed a separate discovery request tied to Apple’s relationship with Google. While broader demands were rejected, Apple was ordered to submit documents connected to potential exclusivity arrangements involving AI providers on Apple devices.
In another significant development, OpenAI secured a discovery-related victory against Musk. The court directed Musk to provide communications from Tesla and SpaceX email accounts, as well as messages exchanged through text and XChat accounts, by June 3, 2026.
Also read: ChatGPT can now manage your finances, lets users link bank accounts
The judge additionally rejected xAI’s demand for internal Apple documents concerning the company’s own use of artificial intelligence, stating that the materials did not appear directly relevant to the antitrust claims being examined in the case.
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