In a fresh tech industry row, Elon Musk is pointing his legal sights at Apple. The xAI founder claims the Cupertino giant is engaging in antitrust violations by favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the App Store, to the detriment of competing AI chatbots, including xAI’s own Grok. The core of Musk’s complaint lies in Apple’s App Store rankings, which he alleges are being manipulated to keep OpenAI’s chatbot in the spotlight while burying competitors.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk declared, “Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action.” Grok, which xAI promotes as a truth-focused AI assistant, reportedly hasn’t been able to gain traction in the iOS App Store despite its advanced features, something Musk attributes to Apple’s alleged bias.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t hold back. Responding to Musk on X, Altman posted, “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.” Apple has been deepening its integration with OpenAI, embedding ChatGPT into iOS and spotlighting it in several user-facing features. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI before parting ways over strategic disagreements, has grown increasingly critical of what he sees as Apple’s preferential treatment.
This isn’t the first time Apple’s App Store policies have raised eyebrows. From the Epic Games lawsuit to EU investigations, the company has long faced questions about how it manages its digital storefront. Now, Musk’s high-profile challenge could reignite debates about how Apple ranks and promotes apps, particularly those involving fast-evolving AI tools.
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