November 29, 2025 – According to a recent post by tech media outlet 9to5Mac on November 28, the high – profile antitrust lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s xAI against Apple and OpenAI has taken a significant new turn. xAI is now seeking crucial evidence from a South Korean entity through international judicial assistance procedures.
The court has officially approved xAI’s application under the Hague Evidence Convention and will forward the request letter to the Korean Court Administration. Although the specific name of the entity has not been directly revealed in the documents, this cross – border evidence – gathering move indicates that Musk is attempting to uncover deeper details about supply chains or business partnerships to bolster his antitrust allegations.
Regarding the real identity of this “mysterious South Korean entity,” there are two main speculations in the industry at present. One possibility is that it could be Samsung or SK Hynix, both of which are major players that have provided essential AI infrastructure hardware support to OpenAI. The other, and perhaps more likely, speculation points to the South Korean tech giant Kakao. Kakao recently entered into a deep partnership with OpenAI, integrating ChatGPT directly into its super – app KakaoTalk, which covers 90% of South Korea’s population.
No matter which company it turns out to be, this South Korean firm is about to be drawn into this legal battle taking place in the United States.
As per the blog post, the root of this case dates back to August this year. Musk sued Apple after his AI product Grok failed to top the App Store charts following an update. He accused Apple and OpenAI of forming an exclusive partnership that prevented other AI companies from competing fairly in the App Store, thus constituting monopolistic behavior.
Apple has firmly denied these accusations, stressing that its business practices fully comply with antitrust regulations. As the scope of evidence – gathering expands overseas, this legal showdown among tech giants is becoming increasingly complex.
While xAI is taking an aggressive approach, the defendants have opted for a delaying tactic. Apple and OpenAI have applied to the court for an extension of the deadline to submit their formal responses. Given that such requests are quite common in complex lawsuits, the court promptly approved it.
This means that Apple and OpenAI must submit detailed counter – statements to xAI’s accusations by December 11. Previously, both parties had attempted to directly apply for the dismissal of the lawsuit, but this was rejected by Judge Mark Pittman, who clearly stated that more substantial evidence was needed before a ruling could be made.
