Elon Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring OpenAI and Prepares Antitrust Lawsuit

Elon Musk has once again found himself at the center of a high-profile tech controversy — this time targeting Apple. According to Musk, the App Store unfairly promotes only OpenAI while “bending” its own rules to filter out competitors.

What Happened
Musk claims that his company’s chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, along with the social media platform X, have achieved impressive download figures but were intentionally excluded from the App Store’s “Must-Have” section. Following the launch of Grok 4 — which introduced image generation and a free subscription option — the app climbed to fifth place in the overall ranking. Meanwhile, Musk says X holds the number one spot in the news category and ranks within the top 40 free apps.

Musk’s Position
He argues that this selective promotion violates antitrust laws, and reports suggest he is preparing to take Apple to court over the matter.

OpenAI’s Response
While Apple has remained silent, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman pushed back, noting that Musk himself uses X’s algorithms to boost the visibility of his own posts. This counterpoint, according to many observers, makes Musk’s accusations appear contradictory.

Context
Apple has faced regulatory pressure before. In the US, it has been accused of anticompetitive practices, and in the EU, it was fined €500 million for preventing developers from offering alternative payment options outside the App Store.

Whether Musk’s latest challenge will escalate into a high-profile legal battle or remain a heated public dispute on X remains to be seen.