Elon Musk ordered to hand over Tesla and SpaceX emails in Apple-OpenAI lawsuit
Follow UsA federal judge ruled that Musk's Tesla and SpaceX emails may contain relevant evidence and must be included in discovery.
The court found that Musk appeared to conduct xAI-related business through his SpaceX email account.
X and xAI's request to pause the order was denied, expanding the scope of evidence in the Apple-OpenAI lawsuit.
Elon Musk appears to have come under fire again, as a US federal judge ruled that he cannot exclude certain Tesla and SpaceX emails from the ongoing legal battle with Apple and OpenAI. This is a setback for Musk’s AI venture xAI and social platform X, who had argued that emails from Musk’s other companies should not be included in the case.
SurveyFor the unversed, Musk filed the lawsuit after accusing Apple and OpenAI of anti-competitive behaviour in their partnership, which brings ChatGPT features to Apple’s ecosystem, including Siri and Apple Intelligence.
Court rejects xAI’s argument
During earlier discovery hearings, lawyers for X and xAI argued that emails from Tesla and SpaceX were beyond their control because those companies were not parties to the lawsuit. However, OpenAI countered that Musk frequently conducts business across companies and uses multiple corporate email addresses interchangeably.
The judge initially agreed with OpenAI and ordered that Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX email accounts be searched for potentially relevant communications. X and xAI later challenged the ruling, requesting that the order be paused while the objection was reviewed. That challenge has now been rejected by US District Judge Mark Pittman, who upheld the previous decision and denied the request to delay compliance.
But, why the emails matter
According to court filings, one factor influencing the decision was evidence that Musk had received xAI-related business communications through his SpaceX email. The court stated that if company business is conducted through those accounts, the communications may be relevant to the lawsuit, regardless of who owns the email domain.
As per the reports, the ruling does not specify when the emails must be produced. During a previous hearing, lawyers for X and xAI acknowledged that gathering and reviewing the material could take some time, but stated that they would move as quickly as possible if ordered by the court.
