Elon Musk has lashed out against Apple, alleging that the tech giant is engaging in anticompetitive practices by favoring OpenAI’s apps in the iPhone App Store rankings over his own AI offering, Grok. The tech tycoon promised to file an antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone giant over Grok’s rankings in the App Store.
Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of xAI Holdings, which includes the Grok AI team and X social network, has ignited a firestorm by accusing Apple of unfairly favoring OpenAI in its app store practices. In a pinned post on his X account late Monday, Musk questioned whether Apple was “playing politics” by not highlighting his company’s products in the sought-after global spotlight of the App Store charts.
Musk’s comments represent the most significant confrontation he has initiated since his highly publicized betrayal of President Donald Trump in June, during which the two men exchanged disparaging remarks about each other on their respective social media platforms. Representatives from both Apple and OpenAI have not immediately responded to requests for comment on Musk’s allegations.
The billionaire entrepreneur went a step further, stating that xAI intends to take legal action against what he considers to be an antitrust violation on Apple’s part. Currently, OpenAI’s ChatGPT holds the position of the most-downloaded free iPhone app in the United States, while Musk’s Grok ranks fifth. Apple and OpenAI have an established partnership revolving around AI integration in the latest iPhone models.
Musk critics have pointed out that ChatGPT has approximately 11 times more reviews that Grok, leading it to be ranked higher than Elon Musk’s offering in App Store listings.
Musk’s feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been long-standing, dating back to disagreements that led to their split after co-founding OpenAI together. The 54-year-old Musk has been vocal about his concerns regarding the dominance of certain AI companies in the market. The two AI titans have been locked in a legal fight over OpenAI’s planned conversion to a for-profit company.
The accusations leveled by Musk against Apple have reignited the debate surrounding the influence and control that major tech companies wield over the app ecosystem. Many developers have previously raised concerns about the challenges of competing in an environment where platform owners, such as Apple, have the power to determine the visibility and success of apps. Most recently, Fortnite developer Epic Games has taken on Apple in an antitrust fight over its App Store.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
