A federal judge has denied OpenAI's request to view the confidential settlement terms between Apple and Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, which led to Apple's dismissal from Musk's antitrust lawsuit. Judge Pittman ruled that compelling disclosure of settlement agreements would undermine the "strong federal policy" encouraging parties to resolve disputes privately. The decision, first reported by 9to5Mac, means the details of what convinced Musk to drop Apple from the case remain sealed.

The lawsuit originated from Musk's claims that Apple's App Store favored OpenAI's ChatGPT over his Grok chatbot, alleging chart manipulation and anti-competitive bias. Those accusations were later narrowed to focus on alleged anticompetitive collusion between Apple and OpenAI regarding Grok. While Apple has exited this litigation via settlement, OpenAI remains a defendant. The rivalry between Musk and his former OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman continues to drive the case forward, even as Musk's platforms X and Grok face separate scrutiny over content moderation issues. Apple now shifts focus to its own separate legal battle with OpenAI.