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Elon Musk had earlier threatened legal action over Apple’s alleged anti-competitive policies, accusing the iPhone maker of bias towards OpenAI and ChatGPT.
X and xAI owner Elon Musk (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Tech billionaire Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Apple and Sam Altman’s OpenAI on Monday, accusing the two tech giants of colluding to prevent xAI and other artificial intelligence rivals from competing.
Musk had earlier warned about Apple’s alleged anti-competitive policies which has kept ChatGPT at the top of App Store charts but no place for his Grok AI app on the platform, and threatened legal action. He accused the iPhone maker of playing politics with its focus and bias towards OpenAI and ChatGPT.
Musk filed an antitrust lawsuit in Texas federal court, accusing Apple and OpenAI of preventing innovators like X and xAI from competition. “Working in tandem, Defendants Apple and OpenAI have locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing,” it said.
Musk’s attorneys said the lawsuit was aimed at stopping “Defendants from perpetrating their anticompetitive scheme and to recover billions in damages”, according to the New York Post. The billionaire also argued that the partnership between Apple and OpenAI had prevented customers from easily accessing other chatbots due to their dominance over smartphones and AI.
“Customers in the smartphone market are harmed by this conduct because they cannot readily switch to less expensive smartphones and use generative AI chatbots and super apps that match or replace the features offered by the iPhone,” the lawsuit alleged.
OpenAI Rejects Accusations
An OpenAI spokesperson responded to Musk’s allegations via an email to NYP, saying, “This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” There was no immediate comment from representatives of Apple and xAI.
Earlier, Sam Altman had dismissed Musk’s allegations, saying he had heard that X was being manipulated to benefit Musk and his companies.
In an earlier post on August 11, Musk wrote, “Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either ???? or Grok in your “Must Have” section when ???? is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know. https://t.co/3wenLZGtwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025
At the time, Apple denied any kind of favouritism for a particular app or company and said it talks about the listing curated by experts with their criteria. “Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories,” it said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Musk is already suing OpenAI in separate proceedings for allegedly abandoning its charitable mission while pursuing a for-profit restructuring.
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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