Elon Musk has opened another legal front in his long-running battles with Big Tech. His artificial intelligence company, xAI, has filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of collusion to keep competitors like his chatbot Grok from rising in the App Store. The case, filed in a Texas federal court, adds to years of feuds between Musk and OpenAI’s leadership and now brings Apple into the crossfire. Here is the full story in five key points.
Musk claims Apple is rigging the App Store
Musk’s company xAI alleged that Apple has manipulated App Store rankings to give OpenAI’s ChatGPT an unfair advantage over other AI tools. He argued that Grok, xAI’s chatbot, was prevented from reaching the top spot despite strong download numbers.
On X, his social media platform, Musk called Apple’s actions “an unequivocal antitrust violation.” He claimed Apple’s behaviour “makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.”
Apple and OpenAI’s close partnership
At the heart of the lawsuit is Apple’s deal with OpenAI. Last year, Apple announced ChatGPT would be integrated into its products, including iPhones. According to xAI, this arrangement strengthens OpenAI’s dominance because ChatGPT gains access to billions of iPhone user queries, a stream of valuable data that helps refine AI systems.
xAI’s complaint says this partnership “locked up markets to maintain monopolies” and unfairly tilted the playing field against rivals. OpenAI dismissed the lawsuit, with a spokeswoman calling it “consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” Apple has not commented on the lawsuit but the company has previously clarified that the App Store does not favour ChatGPT over X.
Musk’s history with OpenAI
The legal fight also revives Musk’s personal rift with OpenAI. He co-founded the organisation in 2015 but left three years later, citing disagreements about its direction. Since then, he has repeatedly criticised the company and its leaders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing them of putting profits above the public good.
Last year, Musk sued OpenAI for allegedly breaching its founding principles, while earlier this year he led a nearly $100 billion takeover bid that OpenAI rejected. Musk and Altman regularly spar online, with Altman recently calling Musk’s latest accusations “remarkable” and accusing him of hypocrisy, given how Musk allegedly manages X to favour his own businesses.
A broader clash with Apple
This is not the first time Musk has taken aim at Apple. In 2022, he accused the company of threatening to pull X (then Twitter) from the App Store, though he later called it a “misunderstanding” after meeting Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Apple’s power over app approvals makes the fight risky for Musk. Apple could reject apps that do not meet its standards, potentially harming Grok and other xAI products. Still, Musk appears determined to push his claims in court.
By filing in Texas, he is continuing his strategy of shifting major disputes there after a Delaware judge voided his multibillion-dollar Tesla pay package. Musk has since moved several company headquarters to Texas and updated X’s terms of service to require users to bring any legal complaints in Texas courts.
What it means for Musk and the AI race
Musk’s lawsuit comes as he attempts to reposition himself at the centre of the AI race. Earlier this year, he spent time in Washington on a cost-cutting drive for the Trump administration, which worried Tesla investors who felt he was distracted.
Now he is projecting focus. He has staged demonstrations of Grok, claimed to be “24/7 at work,” and provided frequent updates on X about his companies. Suing Apple and OpenAI, however, raises the stakes: Apple’s App Store dominance is vast, while OpenAI remains one of the most powerful players in AI.
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