Skip to main contentApple’s lawyers said claims that Musk’s companies suffered harm from its partnership with OpenAI were ‘speculation on top of speculation.’Apple’s lawyers said claims that Musk’s companies suffered harm from its partnership with OpenAI were ‘speculation on top of speculation.’by Robert HartOct 1, 2025, 11:28 AM UTCImage: The Verge, Getty ImagesRobert Hart is a London-based reporter at The Verge covering all things AI and a Senior Tarbell Fellow. Previously, he wrote about health, science and tech for Forbes.Apple has hit back at Elon Musk over his claims its partnership with OpenAI to build ChatGPT directly into the iPhone is stunting AI industry competition. In court documents filed on Tuesday and seen by Bloomberg, Apple’s lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Musk’s companies xAI and X Corp, decrying claims they have been harmed as “speculation on top of speculation.”In August, Musk’s companies filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of rigging App Store rankings against chatbots and apps competing with OpenAI, including Grok and X. Apple’s lawyers said Musk’s AI and social media companies had done nothing to “plausibly” stand up their allegations, explaining that the agreement with OpenAI is “expressly not exclusive.”In any instance, Apple’s lawyers said it is also “widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots,” adding that competition law does not require it to simultaneously partner “with every other generative AI chatbot” on the market, regardless of quality.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Robert HartThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)