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Elon Musk has accused Apple of giving an unfair advantage to OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the App Store. He says this is an antitrust violation and plans to sue.
Musk’s AI company, xAI, created the chatbot Grok. In the US App Store, Grok is currently number five in the “Top Free Apps” list, while ChatGPT is at number one. Musk says Apple’s system makes it impossible for any artificial intelligence app except ChatGPT to reach the top spot.
On his social platform X, Musk also complained that Apple left out both Grok and his app X from its “Must-Have Apps” list. He claimed this is unfair, especially since X is the most popular news app worldwide. He asked if Apple was “playing politics” with its choices.
Musk believes Apple’s close ties with OpenAI are part of the problem. Last year, Apple partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. The AI chatbot now powers some Apple features, including parts of Siri. Musk says this partnership hurts fair competition.
This is not the first time that Apple has been called out for its App Store ranking rules. In April, a US court found Apple had broken a previous order to allow more competition in app payments and downloads. The case came from a 2021 lawsuit by Fortnite-maker Epic Games, which accused Apple of controlling the iPhone app market.
In Europe, Apple was fined €500 million earlier this year for breaking digital competition rules. The European Commission said Apple blocked app makers from guiding users to cheaper payment options outside the App Store. Apple is appealing the fine.
Musk’s legal threat adds more pressure to Apple as regulators in the US and Europe already watch its business closely. If he follows through, the case could shape how big tech companies promote AI apps in the future.
For now, Apple has not responded to Musk’s claims. But the fight between Musk’s xAI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT is likely to grow. Both are pushing hard to win in the fast-moving AI market.
Also Read – Musk's Grok AI Briefly Suspended on X for Claiming Israel Commits Genocide
