Billionaire Elon Musk said his artificial intelligence startup xAI will take Apple to court for allegedly favouring AI competitors in its App Store in what he called a breach of ‘antitrust violation.’ His claims centre on the Grok AI chatbot app, developed by his startup, xAI.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk alleged that Apple is making it “impossible” for any AI company other than OpenAI to take the top spot in the App Store. “xAI will take immediate legal action,” he wrote. Musk also questioned why Apple’s “Must-Have” section excluded both X and Grok, despite them ranking high among news and overall apps.
“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,” Musk said in the post.
Apple’s OpenAI partnership in the spotlight
Last year, Apple partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. At the time, Musk threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies if OpenAI was embedded at the operating system level, calling it a “security violation.”
Before his legal threat, Musk had celebrated Grok overtaking Google to become the fifth most-downloaded free app in the US App Store. However, a CNBC report confirmed that ChatGPT holds the top spot among free apps and is the only AI chatbot in Apple’s “Must-Have Apps” list. Apple’s store also promotes OpenAI’s new GPT-5 model at the top of its “Apps” section.
OpenAI’s GPT-5 vs xAI’s Grok 4
OpenAI launched GPT-5 last week, calling it its most advanced AI yet. The release came shortly after xAI rolled out Grok 4 last month. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left its board in 2018, is now suing the Microsoft-backed firm and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing them of abandoning the mission to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity.”
Adding to the tensions, Robert Keele, xAI’s head of legal, announced his departure last week, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.
In response to Musk’s accusations, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X that the claim was “remarkable” given alleged actions by Musk to manipulate X for his own business interests and to hurt rivals.
Apple is no stranger to antitrust disputes. Last year, the US Department of Justice sued the company for allegedly running a monopoly with its iPhone ecosystem. In June, judges rejected Apple’s request to halt changes to its App Store, including rules preventing the company from charging commission on certain payment links.
