Elon Musk’s companies X and xAI filed a lawsuit Monday against Apple and OpenAI, accusing the two tech giants of colluding to maintain dominance in the smartphone and generative AI markets.
The complaint, lodged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Apple has unfairly favored OpenAI while suppressing rival applications such as xAI’s Grok chatbot.
According to the suit, Apple deprioritized so-called “super apps” and generative AI competitors in its App Store rankings, disadvantaging xAI’s Grok while promoting OpenAI’s ChatGPT integration into iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.
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“In a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots,” the filing states.
Earlier this month, Musk warned he would sue Apple, calling its App Store practices an “unequivocal antitrust violation.” On X, he claimed Apple’s actions made it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.”
Musk vs. Altman: A Long-Running Rift
The case is the latest chapter in a deepening feud between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but exited in 2018 after clashing over the company’s direction. He later criticized OpenAI for abandoning its nonprofit mission, which originally aimed to build AI “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”
Musk sued OpenAI and Altman last year for breach of contract, accusing them of prioritizing profit by partnering with Microsoft and converting the lab into a commercial entity. In contrast, Musk incorporated xAI in 2023 as a Nevada public benefit corporation, pledging to make social impact and transparency part of its mission.
Central to the complaint is Grok, xAI’s chatbot, which is both a standalone app and integrated into Musk’s other businesses, including X and Tesla’s infotainment systems. Musk claims Apple has deprioritized Grok in App Store rankings in favor of OpenAI.
However, Apple’s defenders point out that other chatbot apps, such as DeepSeek and Perplexity, have reached the No. 1 spot in the App Store since Apple announced its OpenAI partnership.
Apple has previously said its App Store is designed to be “fair and free of bias” and that rankings are determined by multiple factors. OpenAI dismissed the lawsuit as harassment, with a spokesperson saying, “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.”
Altman also pushed back, writing on X: “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.”
While Musk presents Grok as a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the chatbot has been plagued by controversy. Critics say Grok has generated hateful and false content on X, including antisemitic posts, climate change denial, and praise for Hitler.
In July, xAI released Grok 4 without disclosing any details on safety testing or guardrails, raising concerns about the model’s oversight. Despite its rocky rollout, Musk has leaned heavily on Grok as a cornerstone of xAI’s strategy to challenge OpenAI.
Looking ahead
The lawsuit adds to mounting regulatory and competitive pressure in both the AI and mobile ecosystems. Apple has faced longstanding antitrust scrutiny over its App Store practices, while OpenAI has come under fire from both former co-founders and regulators for its growing dominance in generative AI.
For Musk, the legal battle reflects both his ambition to disrupt AI through xAI and his personal rivalry with Altman.