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FinanceApple in early settlement talks with US DOJ over antitrust lawsuit
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According to a Bloomberg News report on July 17, 2026, Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice are in early discussions to settle a 2024 antitrust lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by the DOJ and 15 states, accuses Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market, harming smaller rivals, and driving up prices. Specific allegations include Apple suppressing technologies like super apps, cloud gaming, messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets to limit competition. The talks are active but not guaranteed to result in an agreement, and it is unclear if state attorneys general are involved. Apple shares fell 1.1% on the day. The report comes shortly after Apple sued OpenAI and two former employees for trade secret misappropriation.
Source report
Reuters Fri, July 17, 2026 at 10:05 AM PDT 1 min read
- AAPL +0.14%
July 17 (Reuters) — Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice are in early discussions about settling a 2024 lawsuit that alleges the iPhone maker violated antitrust laws, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Apple and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The discussions are active, but there is no guarantee that the two sides will reach an agreement, the report said, adding that the iPhone maker has made multiple offers to the DOJ to bring the case to a close.
The department and 15 states sued Apple in 2024 as the government cracks down on Big Tech, alleging the iPhone maker monopolized the smartphone market, hurt smaller rivals, and drove up prices.
In the lawsuit, the U.S. accused Apple of making it harder for consumers to block competitors and cited five examples where Apple used mechanisms to suppress technologies that would have increased competition among smartphones:
- So-called super apps
- Cloud stream game apps
- Messaging apps
- Smartwatches
- Digital wallets
It could not be learned whether the state attorneys general were engaged in settlement talks, according to the report.
Shares of Apple were down 1.1% in afternoon trading on Friday. They have risen about 23% this year.
The report comes days after Apple sued OpenAI and two former employees, alleging misappropriation of its trade secrets to benefit the ChatGPT-owner's foray into consumer hardware — a dramatic escalation of already simmering tension between the two companies.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur
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Apple in early settlement talks with US DOJ over antitrust case