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Elon Musk has announced that his artificial intelligence firm, xAI, “will take immediate legal action” against Apple for allegedly favoring rival AI apps in its App Store rankings. On Monday night, Musk posted multiple times on X, accusing Apple of “playing politics” by omitting X or xAI’s Grok chatbot from the list of recommended iOS apps, claiming he is left with no option but to pursue legal action.
Musk stated, “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.” He questioned Apple on why X, being the top news app globally, and Grok, at the fifth spot among all apps, do not appear in the ‘Must Have’ section, pinning this query on his profile.
Musk provided no evidence for his claims, and it’s unclear if he has made good on his threats and filed the lawsuit yet.
Bloomberg reported an Apple statement from an unnamed spokesperson asserting that the App Store is “designed to be fair and free of bias… we feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria.” The Verge has also sought comments from both xAI and OpenAI.
Currently, ChatGPT is the top free iPhone app in the US on the App Store, with Grok ranking sixth. Earlier this year, China’s DeepSeek AI temporarily claimed the top spot from ChatGPT in January, refuting Musk’s assertion that no other AI app could reach the top.
There is irony in Musk’s accusations, given the allegations of changes made to X after his acquisition of the company, formerly Twitter, in 2022. A 2024 research study found X’s algorithm appeared to boost Musk’s posts. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman countered Musk’s claims by referencing a 2023 Platformer report indicating that Musk had altered the system to emphasize his X posts globally. Additionally, Grok chatbot was reportedly consulting Musk’s views when tackling controversial subjects like Israel and Palestine, US immigration, and abortion as of June.
This accusation is not the first involving Musk, Apple, and OpenAI. Musk was an initial founder at OpenAI and has previously pursued litigation and made a rejected $97.4 billion buyout offer when OpenAI shifted towards a profit-based model. After OpenAI partnered with Apple to integrate ChatGPT with its devices last year, Musk even threatened to prohibit Apple products at his companies if OpenAI’s technology merged with Apple’s operating system.
Update, August 12th: Added statement from Apple given to Bloomberg.
