A new tech feud has erupted, with Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, threatening to sue Apple. Musk alleges that Apple is guilty of an “unequivocal antitrust violation” by favoring OpenAI in its App Store rankings. He claims that it’s “impossible” for any other AI company to reach the number one spot, pointing to his Grok app’s fifth-place ranking compared to OpenAI’s ChatGPT at number one. This accusation has reignited his bitter feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The public spat on X saw a series of heated exchanges between Musk and Altman. Altman responded to Musk’s accusations by drawing a parallel to Musk’s own alleged behavior, citing reports that he has manipulated X’s algorithm for his own benefit. The animosity between the two stems from Musk’s departure from OpenAI in 2018. Since then, Musk has sued the company twice, and Altman has consistently portrayed him as a bitter and resentful ex-partner.
Musk’s central claim about Apple’s App Store being a closed system for OpenAI has been contradicted by community notes on X. Users provided evidence that other AI apps, such as DeepSeek and Perplexity, have also reached the number one spot this year in different regional App Stores. This directly challenges Musk’s assertion that the system is rigged. The situation was further complicated by xAI’s own chatbot, Grok, which, when asked about the feud, sided with Altman.
This legal threat from Musk comes at a time when Apple is already facing a barrage of regulatory challenges. The company was recently fined by the EU and is currently facing a major antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice. Musk’s public allegations add another high-profile challenge to Apple’s dominance and its control over the app ecosystem.