The terms of Apple’s settlement with Elon Musk’s X Corp. and SpaceXAI will stay confidential. After reading the agreement in private, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ruled on September 17 that it holds nothing relevant to the case that continues against OpenAI, and he denied OpenAI’s emergency motion to see it.
That settles the question our September 18 report left open. Pittman had ordered X and SpaceXAI to hand over “any agreement or combination of agreements with Apple” tied to the deal so he could decide whether OpenAI had a right to it. His two-page order, filed in the Northern District of Texas, gives the answer: no.
What the judge found
OpenAI argued that the agreement might contain information it needed for summary judgment. Pittman read it and disagreed. “Courts have, at times, permitted the production of confidential settlement agreements to the extent they contain information relevant to specific issues at summary judgment or trial,” he wrote. “Having conducted an in camera review of the requested materials, however, the Court finds that they do not present information relevant to the issues to be decided at summary judgment or trial in this case.”
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He also made clear he starts from a reluctance to pry. “The Court hesitates to compel the production of confidential settlement agreements entered by parties,” the order says, citing the federal policy of encouraging parties to settle.
Timing hurt OpenAI too. The order notes that OpenAI filed on September 15, “almost two months after the close of discovery,” which ended July 31, and that granting it would have meant reopening discovery.
How the week unfolded
The docket tells the story in four days:
September 14: X Corp. and SpaceXAI told the court they had “resolved their claims” against Apple and asked to dismiss them with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. Apple did not oppose. Pittman granted the dismissal the same day and removed Apple from the case, which we covered at the time.
September 15: OpenAI, still a defendant, filed its emergency motion to compel the agreement. Pittman ordered a response by noon on September 17, let Apple respond if it chose, and required the agreement to be delivered to him for in camera review, which we reported.
September 17: X, SpaceXAI and Apple filed responses, with X and SpaceXAI asking to seal parts of theirs. OpenAI replied. Pittman denied the motion the same day.
What it means for Apple
For Apple, this is about as clean an exit as a defendant gets. The claims against it are gone, and OpenAI, the party pushing to read the deal, has been turned away by a judge who has seen it. Nothing public says what Apple agreed to, and this order keeps it that way.
The suit began in August 2025, when X and xAI accused Apple and OpenAI of teaming up to lock up markets in smartphones and AI chatbots and keep rivals out. Apple’s departure leaves OpenAI to defend those claims alone.
What happens next in the OpenAI case
OpenAI’s own deadline for dispositive motions, including summary judgment, is September 22, after Pittman granted part of its request for more time on September 14. The trial, reset in April, is scheduled for January 11, 2027.
The ruling also narrows what OpenAI can argue with. Whatever Apple and X agreed will not be part of the summary judgment fight, because the judge has already decided it has no bearing on the issues. If the terms ever surface, it will be because the parties choose to disclose them, not because this court required it.
