Musk Threatens Swift Legal Action Against Apple Over Alleged AI App Store Bias
Elon Musk has warned of taking immediate legal steps against Apple, accusing the tech giant of antitrust violations in how it ranks AI chatbot apps on its App Store. Musk claims Apple’s practices make it “impossible” for any AI company other than OpenAI to secure the top position. He criticized Apple for excluding his social platform X and xAI’s chatbot Grok from its “Must-Have Apps” section, despite X holding the top spot among news apps globally and Grok ranking fifth overall.
Last year, Apple partnered with OpenAI to embed ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Mac devices—a move Musk previously condemned, threatening to block Apple products in his companies over security concerns. His remarks follow Grok’s recent climb to the fifth position in free app rankings, surpassing Google.
Currently, ChatGPT sits at No. 1 in the free apps list and is the only AI chatbot in Apple’s “Must-Have” category, which also prominently features OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-5. This comes after xAI launched Grok 4 last month, intensifying Musk’s ongoing feud with OpenAI—a company he co-founded in 2015 before leaving its board in 2018. He is now suing the Microsoft-backed firm and its CEO, Sam Altman, claiming they strayed from their original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
The tensions have drawn responses from industry figures, with Altman remarking that Musk’s accusations were “remarkable” given alleged reports of Musk manipulating X to favor his own ventures. Apple, meanwhile, has faced multiple antitrust challenges in recent years, including a government lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the iPhone ecosystem and a court ruling limiting its control over in-app payment links.
