Musk's xAI vs. Apple/OpenAI: Federighi Added, Cook Spared

Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, has been added as a document custodian in xAI's antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. This means Federighi will provide relevant documents by June 17, 2026. Here's the thing: xAI, part of SpaceX, claims that Apple and OpenAI are working together to prevent competing large language models from succeeding in the App Store. They argue Apple's deal to integrate ChatGPT into Siri influences App Store rankings. Apple denies these accusations. What's interesting is the court denied xAI's request to add Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, as a custodian. The court found Federighi likely made key decisions regarding Apple's software development and integration of OpenAI into Apple Intelligence. However, they found no unique relevant evidence that Cook would provide. The court also denied adding another unnamed Apple employee who would have provided information about iPhone sales, stating such documents exceed the scope of the claims. The bottom line: This ruling focuses the lawsuit's discovery on specific individuals and documents directly related to the alleged anti-competitive practices.