Elon Musk’s X Corp. and xAI sued Apple and OpenAI in federal court in Fort Worth on Monday, accusing the duo of being involved in a monopolistic scheme to dominate the global market for artificial intelligence.
To lead the litigation, which seeks billions of dollars in damages, Musk and the two companies hired the Dallas law firm Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal and New York-headquartered Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider.
“This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence,” the 61-page complaint states. “Working in tandem, defendants Apple and OpenAI have locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing. Plaintiffs bring this suit to stop defendants from perpetrating their anticompetitive scheme and to recover billions in damages.”
The lawsuit states that Apple fears AI will mean the demise of its smart phone business and seeks to manipulate the market using its powerful App Store.
“Apple knows it cannot escape the inevitable — at least not alone,” the complaint states. “In a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots.”
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas.
The Carrington Coleman lawyers leading the charge for X Corp. include Alex More, Monica Gaudioso and Robert Rowe. The lawyers from Axinn Veltrop, which specializes in antitrust and IP litigation, include Bradley Justus, Caroline Boisvert and Craig Reiser.
The case is X Corp. and X.AI v. Apple, No. 4:25-cv-00914.