SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, August 11, 2025, Elon Musk announced that his AI company, xAI, will pursue legal action against Apple, accusing the tech giant of antitrust violations for allegedly favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its App Store rankings, as stated in a post on X (@elonmusk, 02:07 WAT, August 12, 2025). Musk claimed Apple’s practices make it “impossible” for AI companies like xAI, which develops Grok, to reach the top spot, labeling it an “unequivocal antitrust violation” without providing evidence. X users countered Musk’s claim, noting that Chinese AI app DeepSeek reached #1 in January 2025 and Perplexity AI topped India’s App Store in July 2025, both post-dating Apple’s June 2024 partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs (Reuters, NBC News).
As of Tuesday, August 12, 2025, ChatGPT held the #1 spot among free iPhone apps in the U.S., with Grok at #5, per App Store data. Apple’s rankings are driven by user engagement, reviews, and downloads, but Musk criticized the exclusion of xAI’s Grok and X app from the “Must-Have” section, questioning if Apple was “playing politics” (The Straits Times). OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded on X, calling Musk’s allegations “remarkable” given claims of Musk manipulating X to favor his companies (NBC News). The dispute follows Musk’s ongoing feud with OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 but left in 2018, culminating in mutual lawsuits in 2024 and 2025 over mission betrayal and competitive sabotage (Hindustan Times). X posts from @FT (August 12, 2025) and @DegenerateNews highlighted the legal threat, while @TechBit questioned Musk’s lack of evidence, reflecting divided sentiments. Apple has not commented, and xAI’s legal action remains pending.
Leave a Reply