Elon Musk says that Apple βmakes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAIβ to top its App Store, an βantitrust violationβ, and xAI will take legal action
This is a column about AI.Β My boyfriend works at Anthropic. Becca Monaghan / indy100 : Elon Musk has dropped the Trump feud for now - he's falling out with another CEO instead Forbes : Elon Musk Says Grok Will Be Fixed After Chatbot Sided With Sam Altman In Spat Over Potential OpenAI Lawsuit Saskia Koopman / City A.M. : Musk threatens Apple with legal action in escalating feud with Altman's OpenAI BBC : Apple rejects Musk's App Store bias claims Emily Hawkins / Daily Mail : Musk threatens to sue Apple over App Store Grok-snub feud Business Plus : Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple in App Store feud Rajat Saini / The Mac Observer : Apple Responds to Elon Musk's App Store Bias Allegations Jess Weatherbed / The Verge : Elon Musk says he's suing Apple for rigging App Store rankings Business Today : Elon Musk Vs Sam Altman: Explosive AI Feud Over Apple's App Store Nick Heer / Pixel Envy : The top two stories on Techmeme right now are lies.Β What I mean by that is not that the reporters β¦ iClarified : Elon Musk Threatens Antitrust Lawsuit Over App Store; Apple Responds to Allegations Hannah Parker / Quartz : Elon Musk threatens Apple with antitrust suit Tom Jopyce / The Center Square : Musk has coalition support in lawsuit threat against Apple over App Store treatment Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Elon Musk to sue Apple over ChatGPT's App Store ranking April Rubin / Axios : Musk-Altman rivalry devolves into lawsuit threats, insults in social media brawl Taylor Herzlich / New York Post : Elon Musk threatens Apple with legal action, reignites OpenAI feud over alleged antitrust violations Kate Conger / New York Times : Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Apple Over Claims It Favors OpenAI Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica : Musk threatens to sue Apple so Grok can get top App Store ranking Yahoo Finance : Elon Musk threatens Apple with lawsuit over OpenAI, sparking online feud with Sam Altman James Peckham / PCMag : Elon Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring ChatGPT in Its App Store Lora Kolodny / CNBC : Musk-Altman battle escalates as Tesla CEO drags Apple into the spat Alex Samuels / Daily Kos : Musk blows stack after Apple snubs his racist chatbot Vince Dioquino / Decrypt : Elon Musk Takes Aim at Apple Over App Store: βAre You Playing Politics?β Philip Stafford / Financial Times : Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple over App Store rankings Erin Davis / Entrepreneur : βYou Liarβ: Elon Musk and Sam Altman's War of Words Continues as Musk Threatens Legal Action Against Apple Julia Shapero / The Hill : Musk threatens to sue Apple over X, Grok absence on recommended apps list Wall Street Journal : Musk Takes Fight With OpenAI to Apple Over Its App Store Mariella Moon / Engadget : Elon Musk feels Apple favors OpenAI over xAI in App Store rankings Fox Business : Musk threatens to sue Apple over not featuring X, Grok apps TMZ.com : Elon Musk Calls Out Apple for Allegedly Snubbing X in App Store Jeronimo Gonzalez / Semafor : Musk threatens to sue Apple over OpenAI ranking Marcus Mendes / 9to5Mac : Elon Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in App Store rankings, promises legal action [U] Bluesky: Karl Bode / @karlbode.com : U.S. business titans babble endlessly about the noble virtues of free market innovative competition and then immediately whine like full-diapered toddlers when the market doesn't lay down obediently at their feet like a dutiful, panting Labrador [embedded post] @vegandroid : βNot enough people like my app and this is all Apple's fault!βΒ βΒ (I like and use Grok for spicy chats that OpenAI won't allow in ChatGPT) [embedded post] Maria II / @mariadagloriaii : Why doesn't he pay for ads like other AI companies? [embedded post] @jimander : Another billionaire complaining how they are the victim again.Β π₯± Mastodon: Bruce Lawson / @brucelawson@social.vivaldi.net : Space Karen sues Not-Steve https://www.theverge.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life@mas.to : Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple because it is βimpossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.βΒ βΒ Grok is the #5 free app in the App Store which is a remarkable ranking for an AI that once called itself βMechaHitlerβΒ βΒ https://www.reuters.com/... Threads: Jake Kastrenakes / @jrkast : musk doesn't realize he's already getting a sweetheart deal from apple β no other company gets to promote hitler or deepfake nudes in the app store!Β https://www.theverge.com/... Casey Newton / @crumbler : Elon Musk's whining about App Store rankings is a strong signal that Grok is on the rocks https://www.platformer.news/ ...Β [image] @documentingmeta : The last time Elon Musk went to war with Apple, Tim Cook put him in his place X: Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action. Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Company adds: βOur goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories.β Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either π or Grok in your βMust Haveβ section when π is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know. Sam Altman / @sama : This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like. Sam Altman / @sama : @elonmusk will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies? i will apologize if so. Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @sama You got 3M views on your bullshit post, you liar, far more than I've received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count! Gene Munster / @munster_gene : Musk will likely get what he wants from the $AAPL App Store without the hassle of a lawsuit.Β Give it two weeks to sort out.Β While Apple has a right to run their store, I've learned the hard way never bet against Elon.Β My guess is the outcome will be Apple decides to mention Grok in the βMust-Have Appsβ section and in the βTodayβ tab.Β Even though they don't have to make the accommodation, they likely will to avoid the headache of a lawsuit... Alex Heath / @alexeheath : AI apps that have reached #1 in the App Store this year: - DeepSeek - Meta AI - Perplexity Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Let's get Grok to the top! https://grok.com/... Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Unfortunately, what choice do we have? Apple didn't just put their thumb on the scale, they put their whole body! Deedy / @deedydas : @nikitabier @sama They show that for even OpenAI links [image] Deva Hazarika / @devahaz : I agree with Nikita that apps should not manipulate behaviors to discourage linking to other sites Nikita Bier / @nikitabier : @sama Perhaps it is you who is manipulating your products to your benefit, by putting warnings on every link to a competitor? [image] Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Elon's argument about Grok/X's placement in the Top Charts - to me at least - is pretty baseless. But he's spot on about this: it's very strange Grok isn't in the AI-powered apps βnow trendingβ section. I will note Claude - who Apple is close with - isn't either though. Nik / @ns123abc : >opens Apple App Store >ChatGPT here >ChatGPT there >ChatGPT over here >half the page is ChatGPT promos >why is apple making it look like there's no other AI in existence Are we being oneshotted? π€ [image] @amxfreeze : Apple's deal with ChatGPT might include back door exposure to ChatGPT as there is clearly no payment involved between but mutual offerings as a transaction GROK currently offers a far better service and has the highest ratings on the App Store... Yet Apple favors ChatGPT [image] @teortaxestex : skill issue, Elon [Screenshot of BI article from January: βDeepSeek hits No. 1 on Apple's app store"] Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : Elon Musk is increasingly stressed by problems / issues appearing throughout his portfolio of companies. His answer? Launch silly attacks on other companies that reveal his own business weaknesses. It's tiring, old, and sad. [image] Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : X is a news app in the App Store (and based on how X treats itself on its App Store listing, they want to be classified as news). It's the top free News app. [image] Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Apple is the gateway to the Internet for half of America. They are making it impossible for any other AI company to succeed by relentlessly promoting OpenAI in every way possible! Sam Altman / @sama : Lots has been said about this, here is one thing: [links to Platformer article from 2023: βYes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first"] Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Grok is the smartest AI in the world on the toughest tests and just came first by far in coding, but is not mentioned at all under βAIβ by Apple! [image] Nik / @ns123abc : @sama > posts 2 year old article > *looks inside* the article is written by a journo who is currently under openai pay-roll writing 24/7 about chatgpt LOL LMAO EVEN [image] Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @ns123abc @sama Scam Altman strikes again Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Anti-trust behavior by Apple! @basedbeffjezos : This Sama vs Elon beef will keep going until we reach Kardashev type 2 Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Apple behaves like it's owned by OpenAI - why? @basedbeffjezos : @elonmusk time to make an X phone Luther Lowe / @lutherlowe : When someone boots up an iPhone for the first time, not only should they be presented w/a menu of Siri/Apple Intelligence alternatives (OpenAI, Grok, Gemini, Claude, Llama, etc), the chosen model should have deep iOS API access to make calls, draft/send emails/adjust volume, etc. Tero Kuittinen / @teroterotero : This is funny because I know three man development teams in Helsinki who get Must Have status from Apple for every release. You just need to know a guy. Zac Hall / @apollozac : would be weird to continue buying sponsored tweets from the plaintiff @zerohedge : it was getting boring out there Robert Scoble / @scobleizer : @sama Well he got kicked out of a certain AI company, I hear, first. Robert Scoble / @scobleizer : @sama He also doesn't have a monopoly like Apple does. Sam Altman / @sama : I hope someone will get counter-discovery on this, I and many others would love to know what's been happening. But OpenAI will just stay focused on making great products. Nik / @ns123abc : π¨BREAKING: xAI IS SUING APPLE FOR ANTITRUST VIOLATION βxAI will take immediate legal actionβ THIS IS WAR ITS HAPPENING [image] John William Sherrod / @jwsherrod : @elonmusk Notice what he's doing here, people. He wouldn't say this if the App Store editorial team had chosen to highlight Grok. He'd shout it from the rooftops. He's using the specter of βanti-trustβ to bully Apple into being more friendly to him. Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Grok app now at rank 5 on App Store! Zack / @blkmdl3 : @elonmusk And it's the first thing that pops up when you open the App Store. Sus [image] Luther Lowe / @lutherlowe : @elonmusk File an amicus in Epic v Apple (due in 11 days) and support legislation to curb egregious forms of self-preferencing @firstsquawk : XAI TO SUE APPLE, ALLEGES APP STORE ANTITRUST VIOLATION FAVORING OPENAI xAI claims Apple's App Store practices make it βimpossibleβ for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the #1 spot, calling it a βclear antitrust violation.β The company says it will take immediate legal Forums: r/apple : Elon Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in App Store rankings, promises legal action r/singularity : Quite funny! r/ChatGPT : Grok has called Elon Musk a βHypocriteβ in latest Billionaire SmackDown πΏ r/Enough_Sanders_Spam : Elon Musk says he's suing Apple for βrigging App Store rankingsβ Beehaw : Musk threatens Apple and calls OpenAI boss a liar as feud deepens
Context & Ripple Effects
The dispute sits at the intersection of AI app discovery and platform control: xAIβs Grok was reported by Musk to be fifth in Appleβs free-app chart, while Apple says its curation is designed around safe discovery and developer opportunity. It also extends Muskβs already adversarial relationship with OpenAI, following his earlier lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman.
The allegation foreshadows the later xAI lawsuit targeting Apple and OpenAI over ChatGPT integration, turning a public ranking dispute into a challenge to how a mobile platform can promote and integrate an AI provider.
First-order effects
- xAI says it will pursue legal action against Apple, putting Appleβs App Store ranking and curation practices at the center of an antitrust allegation.
- Apple must publicly defend its treatment of AI apps and its claim that App Store discovery is not preferential, while Grokβs visibility becomes a focal point of the dispute.
Second-order effects
- The conflict increases pressure on AI developers to distinguish between ordinary App Store ranking competition and platform advantages tied to operating-system integrations.
- Appleβs relationship with OpenAI becomes more commercially and legally salient because competitors can frame prominent placement or integration as a distribution barrier rather than a product choice.
Third-order effects
- If similar challenges persist, AI competition may be decided as much by control of default mobile distribution and discovery as by model qualityβa broader claim xAI later carried into court.
- The dispute could help establish a recurring test for platforms: whether AI partnerships that improve product access also create exclusionary advantages for rival assistants.
The trend: Generative-AI rivals are increasingly contesting platform distribution, rankings, and default integrations as core sources of competitive power.