Elon Musk Threatens Legal Action Against Apple Over App Store Rankings

Musk threatens to sue Apple so Grok can get top App Store ranking

After spending last week hyping Grok's spicy new features, Elon Musk kicked off this week by threatening to sue Apple for supposedly gaming the App Store rankings to favor ChatGPT over Grok. "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," Musk wrote on X, without providing any evidence. "xAI will take immediate legal action." In another post, Musk tagged Apple, asking, "Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" "Are you playing politics?" Musk asked. "What gives? Inquiring minds want to know." Apple did not respond to the post and has not responded to Ars' request to comment. At the heart of Musk's complaints is an OpenAI partnership that Apple announced last year, integrating ChatGPT into versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. Musk has alleged that this partnership incentivized Apple to boost ChatGPT rankings. OpenAI's popular chatbot "currently holds the top spot in the App Store's 'Top Free Apps' section for iPhones in the US," Reuters noted, "while xAI's Grok ranks fifth and Google's Gemini chatbot sits at 57th." Sensor Tower data shows ChatGPT similarly tops Google Play Store rankings. While Musk seems insistent that ChatGPT is artificially locked in the lead, fact-checkers on X added a community note to his post. They confirmed that at least one other AI tool has somewhat recently unseated ChatGPT in the US rankings. Back in January, DeepSeek topped App Store charts and held the lead for days, ABC News reported. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Ars' request to comment on Musk's allegations, but an OpenAI developer, Steven Heidel, did add a quip in response to one of Musk's posts, writing, "Don't forget to also blame Google for OpenAI being #1 on Android, and blame SimilarWeb for putting ChatGPT above X on the most-visited websites list, and blame...."

Apple dismisses Elon Musk's claims that App Store favors OpenAI over other AI apps | TechCrunch

Apple has rejected Elon Musk's accusations that its App Store is biased against AI apps that compete with OpenAI. "We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria," the BBC quoted Apple as saying. The response comes after Musk threatened to sue Apple via xAI, claiming the iPhone maker was "behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." Apple and OpenAI entered a partnership last year to integrate the AI company's models and ChatGPT into Apple products, like Siri and iOS. But there is no evidence that the App Store favors OpenAI over other AI companies -- indeed, AI apps like Perplexity and DeekSeek have topped the App Store charts over the last year. In previous years, Apple would have likely ignored claims of chart manipulation. Today, however, the company faces regulatory pressure and new laws around the world to rein in its power in the app distribution market. Apple has also recently been taken to task by a U.S. district judge in its case with Epic Games over not implementing policy changes as the court instructed.

Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Apple for Favoring ChatGPT Over Grok in the App Store

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. Elon Musk has threatened Apple with legal action for what he perceives as overt favoritism towards OpenAI's ChatGPT app in its App Store rankings. In a series of posts on X, he wrote that Grok, the chatbot created by his own company xAI, was being unfairly penalized by the iPhone maker. "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," Musk said. "xAI will take immediate legal action." He went on to address Apple directly, asking "why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the number one news app in the world and Grok is number five among all apps." Grok is currently the No. 5 free app in the US App Store, but Musk didn't supply any other evidence to support his accusations of antitrust violations. Apple and xAI didn't immediately respond to request for comment. The competition between AI chatbots has never been more intense, but ever since OpenAI first released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022, it has remained consistently popular with AI fans and does currently occupy the top spot in the App Store. Grok, meanwhile, arrived a year later, and is known for its informal, sometimes snarky tone, as well as its canny ability to produce spicy, controversial and problematic content. Apple does have an existing relationship with OpenAI, using its models as the basis for Apple Intelligence. Musk, too, has a history with OpenAI -- he was actually a founder of the company, which he later tried to sue. Following the news of the OpenAI and Apple Intelligence integration, Musk also threatened to ban the use of Apple devices at his companies. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman posted a link to a Platformer article on Monday -- in response to Musk's threats -- which claims that the X owner created a special system for prioritizing his own posts on the platform, regardless of whether you follow him. "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," Altman said.

Elon Musk says he's suing Apple for rigging App Store rankings

At the time of writing, ChatGPT is listed as Apple's top free iPhone app in the US, with Grok ranked as the sixth. China's DeepSeek AI briefly managed to take the top App Store position from ChatGPT in January, however, disproving Musk's claim that it would be impossible for other AI apps to do so. Accusations of meddling from Musk are ironic, given allegations about alterations made to X after he acquired the company in 2022, then known as Twitter. A research study in 2024 suggested that X's algorithm was manipulated to boost posts from Musk's account. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to Musk's posts by sharing a Platformer report from 2023 that similarly found Musk had a system built to promote his X posts to the entire platform's userbase. In June, the "maximally truth-seeking" Grok chatbot was also found to be consulting Musk's opinion before providing answers to controversial questions around topics like Israel and Palestine, US immigration, and abortion.

Elon Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring ChatGPT in Its App Store

Elon Musk says xAI will be suing Apple as it believes the company is favoring its rivals in App Store rankings. He says Apple is breaking antitrust laws by making it "impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." It's unclear if xAI, Musk's company, has begun taking legal action yet. The accusations from Musk were posted late on August 11, and it may take the company some time to officially set out a lawsuit. Early on August 12, Apple's top free iPhone apps in the US shows ChatGPT in the top spot with Grok in position six. The next AI service listed is Google Gemini, which is in position 64, followed by Microsoft 365 Copilot in position 100. Following up on his original message, Musk reposted various claims from other X users that Apple's deal with OpenAI, first announced in June 2024, is the reason the company is prioritizing ChatGPT across its App Store. Musk also claimed Apple is prioritizing OpenAI in its editorially controlled content. He said, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your "Must Have" section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" He followed it up by asking directly, "why is ChatGPT literally in every list where you have editorial control?" OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, posted a response on X. He said, "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." Altman points to claims of Musk tweaking X's algorithm back in 2023. He cited a report from Platformer that says Musk asked the brand to show his tweets more regularly after President Biden's post about that year's Super Bowl did better than his. Musk responded by saying, "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!" Musk also publicly agreed with X's Head of Product who responded to Altman saying "Perhaps it is you who is manipulating your products to your benefit, by putting warnings on every link to a competitor?" He then showed a screenshot of ChatGPT's warning message for external links. Apple has yet to respond to Musk's accusations. PCMag has asked Apple for comment on the topic, and we will update this story when we hear back.

Musk Accuses Apple of Unfairly Favoring OpenAI Among iPhone Apps

Elon Musk lashed out against Apple Inc.'s app store practices late on Monday, accusing the iPhone maker of favoring OpenAI. The billionaire founder of xAI Holdings, which now houses the Grok artificial intelligence team and X social network, said Apple makes it impossible for anyone other than OpenAI to reach the top of the App Store charts, a sought-after global spotlight for app developers. In a pinned post on his X account, Musk asked if Apple is "playing politics" by not highlighting his products.

Musk says xAI to take legal action against Apple over App Store rankings

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing the App Store rankings. "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," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section for iPhones in the U.S., while xAI's Grok ranks fifth and Google's Gemini chatbot sits at 57th. ChatGPT also leads the rankings on the Google Play Store, according to Sensor Tower data. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?," Musk said in an earlier post Monday. Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. In April, a U.S. judge ruled that Apple violated a court order requiring it to allow greater competition in its App Store and referred the company to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation, in a case brought by 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games. Apple was handed a 500 million euro ($587 million) fine by the EU antitrust enforcer in April, saying its technical and commercial restrictions prevented app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store in breach of the Digital Markets Act. Reporting by Surbhi Misra and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Kate Mayberry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Boards, Policy & Regulation

Musk accuses Apple of antitrust violation, says xAI will take legal action

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Monday Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab is engaging in antitrust violations by allegedly making it impossible for any artificial intelligence company other than OpenAI to reach the No. 1 spot in its App Store rankings, calling it an "unequivocal antitrust violation." "xAI will take immediate legal action," Musk said in an X post. Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Boards, Policy & Regulation

Musk threatens 'immediate' legal action against Apple over alleged antitrust violations

Elon Musk, the founder of xAI, on Monday threatened Apple with legal action over alleged antitrust violations related to rankings of his AI chatbot app, Grok. "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," Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X. "Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your "Must Have" section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" Musk said in another post.

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Elon Musk feels Apple favors OpenAI over xAI in App Store rankings

Elon Musk has accused Apple of committing an "unequivocal antitrust violation" by favoring OpenAI in the App Store rankings. In a post on X, he claimed that Apple has made it impossible for other AI companies to reach number one in those rankings and that xAI "will take immediate legal action." Musk didn't clarify what he meant by that, and he also didn't provide evidence that would prove Apple's supposed antitrust violation. In an earlier post on X that's currently pinned to the top of his profile, however, he tagged Apple, asking the company why it "[refuses] to put either X or Grok in [its] "Must Have" section. He said X is "the #1 news app in the world," while Grok is ranked number five among all apps. "Are you playing politics? What gives?" he continued. We've asked Apple for a comment, but the company has yet to respond. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted a response to Musk's accusation on X, calling it a "remarkable claim," given that he has heard allegations that Musk manipulates "X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like." To note, Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek became the top-rated free app on Apple's App Store back in January, overtaking even ChatGPT. While Musk didn't mention it, Apple has an ongoing partnership with OpenAI. The company has integrated ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence to power cloud-based queries for its platforms. More recently, the company said that Apple Intelligence will leverage the capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-5 in iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26, which are set to arrive sometime in September.

Musk's legal threats are 'massive headache and headwind for Apple,' Dan Ives says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's threatened legal action against Apple over its App Store rankings could hurt the larger company, according to prominent tech analyst Dan Ives. Elon Musk, who's also the CEO of xAI, the startup behind AI chatbot Grok, on Monday threatened to sue Apple over alleged antitrust violations tied to rankings of Grok's app. Musk accused the iPhone maker of favoring other AI competitors in its App Store. "It's a massive headache and headwind for Apple," Ives, global head of tech research at Wedbush Securities, said on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" early Tuesday. "The last thing you want right now is Musk putting his force behind this legally, especially given all the regulatory scrutiny that Apple is seeing right now. Look, this is something that can really sort of spiral and take on a life of its own." Musk's prominence may be damaging sentiment toward Apple, Ives said. "The issue here is with Musk going full force after Apple, this could really change the dynamic, not just between Musk and Apple, but if others get involved," Ives said. "I think that's the nervousness ... that's why you can see Apple pull back because of Musk, and obviously the power he brings." Apple shares are down more than 9% year to date while the S & P 500 has risen about 9%. Tesla is lower by about 17% in 2025, hurt by rising competition and slack demand. AAPL 1Y mountain Apple stock performance over the past year. Musk threatened legal action against Apple in separate posts Monday on his social media platform X. "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," Musk wrote in one post. Another post added, "Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" ChatGPT is ranked No. 1 in the top free apps section of the American iOS store. Apple in June 2024 partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its iOS, iPadOS, and macOS system functions. App Store placement is the "lifeline" of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Grok, Ives said. "Musk is a wartime CEO focused all on xAI, focused on Grok, focused on where the ecosystem is going," the analyst continued. "Being placed on the App Store is extremely important. Again, it's something where if it's just me or someone else, it means nothing. The fact it's Musk with the ecosystem, that's where this is a huge shot across the bow toward Apple."

Musk-Altman battle escalates as Tesla CEO drags Apple into the spat

Musk and Altman, who helped start OpenAI a decade ago with a group of other co-founders, had a public falling out that led to a legal fight last year, with Musk accusing Altman of breach of contract for abandoning the artificial intelligence company's founding mission. The back-and-forth war of words and lawsuits took another dramatic turn on Monday, when Musk threatened Apple with "immediate" legal action over alleged antitrust violations. Musk's complaint, which he voiced on his social media site X, is that Apple favors OpenAI's ChatGPT over X's Grok chatbot in the App Store. "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," Musk wrote, without citing evidence. "xAI will take immediate legal action." Apple partnered with OpenAI in mid-2024 to integrate ChatGPT into its iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products. Readers added context to Musk's post, pointing out that China's DeepSeek reached the top spot in the App Store in January of this year, and that Perplexity was No. 1 in India in July. Altman quickly responded to Musk's accusations. "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," Altman wrote in a post on X Monday night. Altman referenced a 2023 report from tech news site Platformer that described how Musk, after acquiring Twitter (now X), made sweeping platform changes and "created a special system for showing you all his tweets first." Altman said that if Musk ended up filing a suit, he hoped it would lead to "counter-discovery on this," adding that he and many others "would love to know what's been happening."

Elon Musk Threatens Lawsuit Against Apple Over Claims It Favors OpenAI

The billionaire said in posts on X that the consumer tech giant was violating antitrust laws by giving preferential treatment to OpenAI on the App Store. Elon Musk claimed late Monday that Apple gave preferential treatment to OpenAI, a prominent competitor of his artificial intelligence company, and he threatened to sue the consumer tech giant for "an unequivocal antitrust violation." Mr. Musk's A.I. company, xAI, released a new version of its chatbot, Grok, last month. Mr. Musk has recently posted on his social media platform, X, about how well his chatbot was doing with rankings in Apple's App Store. But on Monday, Mr. Musk started posting that Apple was intentionally favoring OpenAI instead. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI to integrate its chatbot, ChatGPT, into Apple products. "App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" Mr. Musk wrote. "Are you playing politics?" Hours later, Mr. Musk posted that "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." He added that "xAI will take immediate legal action." Mr. Musk frequently turns to legal threats against competitors and critics over perceived injustice, sometimes resulting in lawsuits and other times fizzling out after a few social media posts. As of Tuesday afternoon, xAI did not appear to have filed a lawsuit in federal court. Representatives for xAI and Apple did not respond to requests for comment. A fact-checking feature run by X users, called Community Notes, added a note to Mr. Musk's post that said chatbot apps made by companies other than OpenAI had reached the No. 1 spot on the App Store. Mr. Musk has feuded with OpenAI and Apple before. Mr. Musk previously criticized Apple in 2022, when he said the company had threatened to remove his social media app from its App Store altogether after he relaxed content moderation rules. Apple's policies prohibit apps that include hateful speech or content. Mr. Musk later met with Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, and clarified it was a "misunderstanding." Mr. Musk co-founded OpenAI, but left the company in 2018, citing disagreements with the other co-founders over the company's direction. He sued OpenAI last year, claiming that the company and two of its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, had breached its founding contract by putting commercial interests ahead of the public good. (The New York Times has also sued OpenAI for copyright infringement. The company has denied wrongdoing.) Mr. Altman, who remains the chief executive of OpenAI, has denied the allegations.

Musk threatens Apple and calls OpenAI boss a liar as feud deepens

X owner Elon Musk has threatened Apple with legal action after claiming it had made it "impossible" for apps to compete with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI in its App Store. He called OpenAI boss Sam Altman a "liar" - after Altman claimed Musk used his platform to "benefit himself and his own companies". The row is the latest flashpoint in what is an ongoing feud between the billionaires who co-founded OpenAI - but now fiercely compete after Musk left the firm. Apple announced a partnership with ChatGPT in June 2024 - but there is no suggestion Apple favours one app over the other, and several rival AI apps such as DeepSeek and Perplexity have topped the App Store charts since then.

Elon Musk Says Apple Is Rigging the App Store for ChatGPT

The tech mogul is threatening immediate legal action, accusing the iPhone maker of an "unequivocal antitrust violation" designed to favor his AI rival. Elon Musk has opened a fresh front in his ongoing feud with Big Tech.This time he's targeting Apple. On Monday night, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO accused the iPhone maker of antitrust violations, claiming its App Store policies put his AI chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, at a disadvantage compared to rivals, particularly OpenAI’s ChatGPT. “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,†Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter). “xAI will take immediate legal action.†Musk didn’t elaborate on the legal strategy or confirm whether a lawsuit is already in motion. But his public offensive had begun earlier in the evening, as if he were building a case before a jury. “Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either ğ* or Grok in your â€~Must Have’ section when ğ* is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?†he wrote in another post. “Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.†A quick check by Gizmodo found that ChatGPT is currently the No. 1 free app in the U.S. iOS App Store and the only AI chatbot featured in Apple’s “Must-Have Apps†section. Musk sees that as evidence of bias, and he’s tying it to Apple’s deeper ties with OpenAI. “And why is ChatGPT literally in every list where you have editorial control?†he added in yet another post. Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership in June 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs through Siri and system-wide writing tools. The deal gave OpenAI’s chatbot unprecedented visibility and direct access to hundreds of millions of Apple users. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left the company three years later after a falling-out, has since become one of its fiercest critics. His AI company, xAI, launched Grok in late 2023, branding it as an “edgy†alternative to mainstream chatbots. Grok is integrated directly into X, the social platform Musk acquired in 2022. The spat with Apple adds to Musk’s growing list of AI-related battles, including lawsuits, public feuds with former allies, and frequent claims that competitors are politically biased. Musk’s threat marks the opening salvo in what could become a major new antitrust fight. Apple has long faced scrutiny and lawsuits from developers such as Epic Games, as well as regulators in the U.S. and Europe, who argue that its iron grip on the App Store amounts to an illegal monopoly. Now, Musk is repurposing those same arguments for the AI era. His complaint targets the core of Apple’s App Store power: the ability to anoint winners and bury rivals through editorial curation and promotion. For an upstart like xAI, being sidelined while a competitor enjoys premium placement can be fatal. In Musk’s view, Apple’s promotion of ChatGPT is part of a cozy, potentially anti-competitive relationship with OpenAI. Apple did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. It’s Musk’s classic strong arm move. He’s done it before, yell loud enough, play the bully, and force your rival to the table. Now the question is whether Apple takes the bait or calls his bluff.

Elon Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in App Store rankings - 9to5Mac

Elon Musk is (once again) going after Apple, this time accusing the company of an "unequivocal antitrust violation" for allegedly favoring OpenAI in the App Store's AI rankings. Here are the details. Last month, xAI released Grok 4, its latest large language model, promising major performance gains over leading competitors. Since then, the company has also rolled out features like Grok Imagine, its image and video generator, as well as customizable "companion" chatbots. During the same time period, according to data from App Figures, the Grok app climbed from around 60th to 29th place in the overall App Store rankings last week. Earlier today, xAI made Grok 4 free for users worldwide, helping the app climb further to fifth place in the overall App Store rankings, and second in the Productivity category. Still, that hasn't been enough to dethrone OpenAI's ChatGPT, which has spent the better part of the past year hovering at, or near, the top of Apple's charts. For the past year, Apple has also repeatedly featured ChatGPT in its App Store editorial content. More significantly, it partnered with OpenAI as part of its new Apple Intelligence rollout, which includes direct Siri integration and support for the Writing Tools feature. Earlier tonight Elon Musk posted the following on X: It's unclear what exactly triggered his threat of legal action, but if history is any guide, he'll likely post more about it as his supporters egg him on. So his reasoning behind the move may become more apparent as the hours and days progress. Musk, of course, co-founded OpenAI before parting ways with the organization early on. More recently, he sued the company in an effort to block its transition to a for-profit model, a case still making its way through the courts. So it's possible his latest grievance with the App Store is just an extension of that broader fight, and that he sees Apple's platform as playing a key and anticompetitive role in OpenAI's continued success. Do you think Apple is giving OpenAI an unfair advantage on the App Store? Let us know in the comments.

Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Apple Over App Store Rankings

Elon Musk has threatened legal action against Apple, claiming that the company is violating antitrust rules by favoring OpenAI's ChatGPT in App Store rankings over his Grok AI assistant. "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," Musk said in a post on X (Twitter), which he also owns. Musk failed to provide evidence to support his claim. Meanwhile, fellow X users noted that DeepSeek reached #1 overall on the App Store in January, long after Apple's partnership with OpenAI was announced that allows Siri to offload complex queries to ChatGPT. The tech billionaire also criticized Apple for not featuring X or Grok in the App Store's "Must Have" section. ChatGPT currently holds the top spot for free apps, while Grok ranks sixth. Google's Gemini chatbot sits at 57th. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hit back with his own post on X, calling Musk's claims "remarkable" given allegations about Musk manipulating his own social media platform to benefit his companies. Musk's remarks come amid growing pressure on Apple from regulators and competitors over its App Store practices. In April, a U.S. judge ruled that Apple violated a court order to open the App Store to more competition and referred the company for a criminal contempt probe, following a case brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games. The same month, the EU fined Apple €500 million ($587 million) for violating the Digital Markets Act, citing restrictions that blocked developers from directing users to cheaper offers outside the App Store. Apple is currently appealing the fine.

Apple (and everyone else) tells Elon Musk he's wrong about app favoritism

App Store is "designed to be fair and free of bias," Apple insists, and Twitter (sorry X) users offer their support. Apple has insisted it ranks apps based on "objective criteria" rather than favoritism, contradicting accusations of misconduct by Elon Musk earlier this week. "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store," the hotheaded billionaire tweeted on Tuesday, "which is an unequivocal antitrust violation." Musk then claimed that his xAI company, which created ChatGPT rival Grok, would take "immediate legal action" in response. But, as has happened before, users of Musk's own site have undermined his claims. Anyone viewing his tweet is now informed, thanks to X/Twitter's Community Notes feature, that in fact DeepSeek and Perplexity have both reached the top spot, the latter on the India App Store and the former overall, since the Apple-OpenAI agreement was signed, and preferential treatment might therefore be suspected. Unsurprisingly, Sam Altman, the billionaire CEO of OpenAI, also begged to differ, referring to Musk's tweet as "a remarkable claim" given the way Musk is alleged to have manipulated X's algorithms to favor his own tweets. And when Grok was called upon to settle the dispute, it sided with Altman, citing factual issues with Musk's initial claims and pointing to his "history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his posts and favor his interests, per 2023 reports." (For the record, Grok has often been wrong and shouldn't be regarded as a reliable source. It's just mildly amusing that even Musk's own AI disagreed with him on this occasion.) It might seem unnecessary at this point for Apple to wade into the dispute, but the company chose to email a statement to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who covered the original story. "We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria," the company said. "Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories." It added, Gurman says, that the App Store "is designed to be fair and free of bias." Which is an interesting phrasing: why only designed to be fair and free of bias, rather than actually being those things? (Similarly, why only say that safe discovery and valuable opportunities are a "goal," rather than something users and developers can rely upon?) While fairness is often an unattainable ideal, one would imagine that bias generally reflects intentionality, and that it should be relatively straightforward to ensure that certain apps are not given preferential treatment. Perhaps Apple wishes to emphasise that objectivity is baked into the system from the ground up: an element of its fundamental design, rather than something which relies on the way it's currently run. Regardless of the slight ambiguity of Apple's statement (perhaps merely reflecting lawyer-advised caution), it's hard to conclude that anyone has been made to look bad by this brief and ugly spat other than Elon Musk himself. Apple may very well have the motive to favor one app maker over another, particularly when its own apps and apps made by its business partners are in the mix, but Musk has failed to make a convincing case that it is doing so. And one would imagine that significantly more evidence will be necessary if the legal action is to succeed.

Apple Denies Musk's ChatGPT Favoritism Claims, Says App Store Has No Bias

The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias. We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria. Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories. Yesterday, Musk threatened to sue Apple, and claimed that the company was violating antitrust rules by favoring ChatGPT over other AI apps like Grok. "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," Musk said. Musk did not provide any evidence or further information on Apple's alleged antitrust violations, but he seems to have missed that AI app DeepSeek hit number one on the App Store charts earlier this year. ChatGPT continues to be in the number one position on the free apps chart, with Grok in the number five spot. X is number 32. Musk also claimed that Apple "refuses" to put the X or Grok apps in the App Store's "Must Have" section, where ChatGPT is listed. Grok has recently been updated with adult-themed content that includes celebrity deepfakes, and it regularly makes headlines for its questionable Musk-guided responses to queries. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to Musk's claims of Apple favoritism by pointing out that Musk has manipulated X algorithms to benefit himself and his companies. Apple is already facing an antitrust lawsuit levied by the U.S. Department of Justice, and it is still appealing a recent ruling in the Apple vs. Epic Games lawsuit that required major App Store changes.

Elon Musk threatens Apple with lawsuit over OpenAI, sparking online feud with Sam Altman

Billionaire's post on acting against Apple for OpenAI's No 1 position on App Store prompted reply from Sam Altman Billionaire Elon Musk threatened legal action against Apple on behalf of his artificial intelligence startup xAI, accusing the iPhone maker of favoring OpenAI and breaching antitrust regulations in managing the rankings in its App Store. The posts elicited snide responses from Sam Altman, the OpenAI CEO, and began a spat between the two former business partners on X. "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," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. In a post earlier that day, he wrote, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" OpenAI's ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section in the US, while xAI's Grok ranks fifth. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple and xAI did not provide comment. Altman responded to Musk on X: "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." Musk has bent X's algorithmic recommendations to favor his own tweets, according to multiple reports. Altman and Musk founded OpenAI together in 2015, but Musk left the startup and rescinded funding in 2018 after proposing to take it over, a petition other executives rebuffed. The Tesla CEO has since sued the company twice over its planned transition to a for-profit enterprise, alleging "deceit of Shakespearean proportions". Altman has cast Musk as a bitter and petty ex-partner who was jealous of the company's success after departing. Musk replied to Altman's tweet, "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!" Altman replied to Musk multiple times, first calling his lack of views a "skill issue", then "or bots", and then offered a legal question of his own: "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." Users on X - through the community notes feature - have pointed out that a few apps besides OpenAI have taken the top spot on the App Store this year. Chinese AI app DeepSeek reached the No 1 spot on the platform in January, while in July, Perplexity took first place in India's App Store - both occurring after the OpenAI and Apple partnership struck last year. One user asked X's native AI, Grok, who was right in the feud. The chatbot replied, "Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right." Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. Earlier this year, Apple was ordered to pay a fine of €500m ($581.15m) by the EU antitrust enforcer, which said the company's restrictions prevented developers from steering users outside the App Store. The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in early 2024, accusing the iPhone maker of creating and maintaining "broad, sustained, and illegal" smartphone monopoly.

Sam Altman fires back at Elon Musk over OpenAI monopoly accusations

* Elon Musk claims that Apple's App Store is biased against Grok * Sam Altman responds, accusing Elon of manipulating X in Grok's favor * Apple has not responded to either claim Elon Musk, CEO of XAI, the company behind the Grok AI chatbot, has accused Apple's App Store of favoritism towards OpenAI in a tersely written post on X that threatens legal action over antitrust issues. In the post, Musk writes, "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." Further posts from Musk clarify his grievances, including a post pinned to the top of his X.com account which reads, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Musk also gave examples of screenshots showing how Grok is not mentioned in the various roundups of AI apps found on the App Store, while competitors like Copilot and Google Gemini are mentioned. Altman strikes back Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was quick to clap back on X, stating: "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." Altman links to an article on Platformer that alleges Musk created a team to modify the X algorithm to benefit his own tweets. This claim is based on a comparison between his Super Bowl tweet, which expressed support for the Philadelphia Eagles, and a similar one by then-President Joe Biden. Apple's legal issues with the App Store have already caused a very public spat with Fortnite developer Epic Games over the past few years. Much of the disagreement has centered on the fees that Apple charges apps for running on its platforms. Epic Games has recently won a court battle in Australia with the ruling that Apple and Google have engaged in anti-competitive conduct regarding the dominance of the app market. Epic has recently confirmed Fortnite will soon return to Apple devices in Australia. Apple and OpenAI entered into an agreement in 2024, which saw Apple integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence, allowing Siri to hand off to ChatGPT if a query proved too complex. Musk's grievance with Apple is more to do with the way the App Store promotes some apps over others. In another post on X, Musk says, "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!" However, as many people have pointed out on X, in January 2025, the DeepSeek app reached #1 overall on the App Store, and Perplexity reached #1 overall in India's App Store. Both these occurred after the OpenAI and Apple partnership was announced in June 2024. TechRadar has reached out to Apple for comment on this story and will update with any further information if the company responds.

Elon Musk wants to sue Apple over Grok app store rankings as Sam Altman fires back

Elon Musk, as is his way, fired off an accusatory tweet Monday night. The target of his ire? Apple. He posted on X: "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." Unfortunately for Musk, his own social media site quickly fact-checked his statement. Community notes on his post noted that both Deepseek and Perplexity had hit the top of the App Store charts, even after Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership in 2024. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Still, Musk kept posting about Apple and his belief that it was tamping down on the popularity of xAI and its signature AI chatbot, Grok. "Unfortunately, what choice do we have?" he posted on X. "Apple didn't just put their thumb on the scale, they put their whole body!" Musk has not yet provided evidence that Apple has suppressed his apps. As of this writing, ChatGPT is the top app on the Apple App Store charts; Grok is in the fifth spot, lagging behind Threads. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn't take the accusation kindly. He quote-tweeted Musk's post and wrote, "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." This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The conflict this week between Musk, Altman, and Apple is yet another example of the billionaire men running the world getting into petty, public spats. Remember the Musk, Trump feud? Or Zuck and Musk? Or previous Altman vs. Musk fights? Still, that's not to say there haven't been controversies and troubles on Apple's end regarding its App Store. Epic Games, for instance, has been locked in a years-long legal battle with Apple over listing its popular game Fortnite in the App Store. The judge in the case actually found in May that Apple violated a court order prohibiting the company from engaging in anti-competitive behavior. It's not clear if Musk will actually take legal action, but it's interesting to see the tech giants going at one another in a public space.

Elon Musk accuses App Store of favoring OpenAI

Elon Musk has taken his feud against OpenAI to the App Store, accusing Apple of favoring ChatGPT in the digital shop and vowing legal action. "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," Musk said in a post on his social network X on Monday, without providing evidence to back his claim. "xAI will take immediate legal action," he added, referencing his own artificial intelligence company. X users responded by pointing out that DeepSeek AI out of China hit the top spot in the App Store early this year, and Perplexity AI recently ranked number one in the App Store in India. DeepSeek and Perplexity compete with OpenAI and Musk's startup xAI. Both OpenAI and xAI released new versions of their AI assistants, ChatGPT and Grok, in the past week. App Store rankings on Tuesday listed ChatGPT as the top free iPhone app with Grok in fifth place. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Factors going into App Store rankings include user engagement, reviews, and the number of downloads. OpenAI and Apple in June of last year announced an alliance to enhance iPhones and other devices with ChatGPT features. ChatGPT-5 rolled out free to the nearly 700 million people who use it weekly, OpenAI said in a briefing with journalists last week. Tech industry rivals Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and xAI have been pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence since the blockbuster launch of the first version of ChatGPT in late 2022. Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the AI sector early this year with a model that delivers high performance using less costly chips. OpenAI in April of this year filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a "relentless campaign" to damage the organization after it achieved success without him. In legal documents filed at the time in northern California federal court, OpenAI alleged Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT. The lawsuit was another round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world's richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission. In its countersuit, the company alleged Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk." Musk founded his own genAI startup, xAI, in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players.

Musk threatens to sue Apple over AI snub

Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple over claims the company is refusing to put his chatbot at the top of its iPhone download charts. The billionaire said xAI, which makes the Grok app, would take "immediate legal action" about what he alleged was an "unequivocal antitrust violation". In particular, Mr Musk is upset that ChatGPT, made by rival tech company OpenAI, features at the top of the download store in the US and many other countries. He claimed that Apple had made it "impossible" for any other AI app to surpass it. In a post on X, he wrote:

Elon Musk threatens Apple with antitrust suit over App Store

Elon Musk is threatening to sue Apple. In a post on his social media site X, Musk said his company xAI would take "immediate legal action" against the iPhone maker for alleged prejudice in its App Store. Musk went on to claim that Apple won't let any AI app reach the top spot in its store other than OpenAI's ChatGPT. "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," he said. OpenAI and Apple announced a partnership back in June 2024 where the iPhone maker planned to incorporate ChatGPT -- OpenAI's chatbot -- into its iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Siri, and Writing Tools later that year. Plus, at the start of July, Bloomberg reported that Apple might bench its own artificial intelligence technology and instead use either Anthropic or OpenAI's tech to power a Siri update due next year. A community note was added to Musk's post negating his allegations; it cited articles that detail times when other AI companies, including DeepSeek and Perplexity, held the top spot in Apple's App Store after its OpenAI deal was announced. Musk's legal threats would add to Apple's mounting legal challenges. The tech giant is already dealing with a domestic antitrust lawsuit and escalating fines for its App Store in the European Union. In a suit that was filed against Apple in March of last year by the Department of Justice, the iPhone maker was accused of monopolizing the smartphone market. At the end of June, a judge ruled that the suit could move forward despite Apple's efforts to squash it. Musk is facing his own legal woes. Last week, Tesla shareholders filed a lawsuit against the electric vehicle company and Musk over its robotaxi claims. Just days before the suit, Tesla was found partially liable in a fatal Autopilot crash and ordered to pay over $300 million in damages.

Apple has a new AI problem -- this time from Elon Musk

Apple's stock is down nearly 20% so far in 2025, losing more than $750 billion in market value and falling from its position as the world's most valuable company, particularly as a result of investor disappointment around Apple's artificial intelligence efforts, with the company's "Apple Intelligence" suite failing to impress. This week, Apple has a fresh AI-related headache -- but this time, it comes courtesy of world's richest man Elon Musk, who's threatening "immediate legal action" if the tech giant does not remove OpenAI's ChatGPT from the top of its App Store rankings. It all unfolded late Monday, when the billionaire Tesla CEO took to the social network he bought for $44 billion, X, to level pointed accusations at Apple and its App Store practices. Musk alleged that Apple's ranking system "makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store," claiming this amounts to a "clear antitrust violation" and vowing that his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, "will take immediate legal action." At the heart of Musk's complaint is Grok, the AI chatbot launched by his xAI startup as a direct competitor to ChatGPT. As of Tuesday morning, ChatGPT holds the coveted top spot among free apps in Apple's App Store in the United States, while Grok sits at sixth. For context: Google's Gemini chatbot trails far behind, ranking 57th. Musk alleges improper favoritism, especially given Apple's high-profile partnership with OpenAI, announced in June 2024, that integrates ChatGPT more deeply with iPhones, iPads, and Macs. "Apple is acting in a way that hinders any AI firm, other than OpenAI, from achieving the top position in the App Store, which constitutes a clear violation of antitrust laws," Musk wrote in one post. He further questioned Apple's editorial decisions: "Why do you decline to include either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' category when X holds the title of the world's leading news app and Grok ranks fifth among all applications? Are you engaging in political maneuvering?" Musk's attack on Apple arrives in a climate of mounting regulatory scrutiny. Earlier this year, a U.S. judge found Apple in violation of a court order requiring changes to App Store competition rules, following a lawsuit by video game studio Epic Games. The European Union fined Apple €500 million in April for blocking app developers from steering users to cheaper outside offers, citing anti-competitive behavior. Apple is appealing the decision. Apple has yet to publicly respond to Musk's latest accusations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly fired back at Musk's claims. "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," Altman wrote on X, highlighting the sometimes cutthroat competition within the AI sector. While Musk asserts that Apple is locking out competitors, some industry observers have cast doubt on the claim. Notably, DeepSeek, an AI chatbot from China, managed to reach the top overall spot on the App Store back in January -- months after Apple's partnership with OpenAI was announced. Critics point out that Musk has yet to provide concrete evidence that Apple is actively manipulating rankings to disadvantage Grok or other rivals. The fight between Musk and Apple reflects the high stakes in the race to dominate consumer AI platforms. With over 1 billion iPhone users worldwide, App Store rankings can make or break new technologies seeking widespread adoption. Musk has positioned Grok as a transparent and less censored alternative to ChatGPT, seeking to disrupt the existing market that he helped create when he co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before departing in 2018 over strategic disagreements. The dispute marks an escalation in Musk's broader campaign against big tech and perceived abuses of platform power, with potential implications for how digital marketplaces handle AI, app curation, and competition.

Musk says he's suing Apple for not featuring X and Grok in 'Must Have' section of app store

Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." In an emailed statement, Apple defended the fairness of its App Store. "The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias," it said. "We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria. Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories." The company has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Elon Musk Takes Aim at Apple Over App Store: 'Are You Playing Politics?' - Decrypt

The dispute comes amid ongoing antitrust probes into Apple's App Store dominance. Billionaire Elon Musk has escalated his dispute with Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of skewing its App Store to favor OpenAI's ChatGPT over rival AI services, including his chatbot Grok and the X app. "Why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" Musk tweeted Monday on his social media platform. He followed with a sharper jab: "Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know." Musk's rhetoric reinforces his broader claim that Apple's App Store curation tilts the playing field toward favored partners like OpenAI, sidelining competitors even when their apps rank highly. He has framed the issue as part of a larger antitrust fight, aligning his grievances with ongoing U.S. and EU investigations into Apple's dominance over app distribution. Any legal move by Musk would add another high-profile challenge to Apple's business model, potentially widening the scope of scrutiny on how it manages visibility and access, as well as possibly reopen how Apple had dealt with crypto payments in the past for its App Store. Legal experts say the case could hinge on where the line is drawn between Apple's right to curate its marketplace and conduct that unlawfully distorts competition. The key is with "distinguishing between legitimate editorial curation (which platforms generally have the right to exercise) and anti-competitive conduct that harms the competitive process," Andrew Rossow, a public affairs attorney and CEO of AR Media Consulting, told Decrypt. "Courts would likely examine factors like the consistency of curation policies, whether decisions serve legitimate business purposes, and the overall impact on competition rather than individual competitors," Rossow explained. Rossow noted that Musk's case differs in focusing on curation bias rather than payment systems, so the precedent isn't directly controlling. "Antitrust law protects competition, not individual competitors," he said, adding that Musk would need to show xAI's performance issues stem from Apple's conduct rather than factors like product quality or marketing effectiveness. Others question whether platform control is being used to shape competition, saying the issue could determine which products gain or lose market share. "This is pure censorship. If App Store curation is influenced by favoritism, it can distort competition in the AI sector by limiting visibility for potentially superior products," Himanshu Tyagi, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science and co-founder of AI firm Sentient, told Decrypt. Still, some warn that platform favoritism can steer traffic and give companies data advantages, shaping who succeeds in the AI sector. "The plateau in large language model capabilities makes a moat much harder to build," Jesse Glass, lead AI researcher at DecideAI, told Decrypt. "Decisions like this one from Apple will play an increasingly large role."

Musk threatens to sue Apple for not listing X or Grok among its top recommended apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked seventh.

Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple over X and Grok's App Store rankings

Musk accused Apple of "behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store". Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla, and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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". Grok is owned by Musk's AI startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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". He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. In April, European Union regulators fined Apple €500 million for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the US tech giant nearly $2 billion (€1.8 billion) for unfairly favouring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. And in July, Spain's watchdog said it was deepening its investigation into Apple over concerns that it had "unfair" requirements for developers seeking to get their apps on the company's App Store. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's US App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube, and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Elon Musk accuses App Store of favoring OpenAI

San Francisco (United States) (AFP) - Elon Musk has taken his feud against OpenAI to the App Store, accusing Apple of favoring ChatGPT in the digital shop and vowing legal action. "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," Musk said in a post on his social network X on Monday, without providing evidence to back his claim. "xAI will take immediate legal action," he added, referencing his own artificial intelligence company. X users responded by pointing out that DeepSeek AI out of China hit the top spot in the App Store early this year, and Perplexity AI recently ranked number one in the App Store in India. DeepSeek and Perplexity compete with OpenAI and Musk's startup xAI. Both OpenAI and xAI released new versions of their AI assistants, ChatGPT and Grok, in the past week. App Store rankings on Tuesday listed ChatGPT as the top free iPhone app with Grok in fifth place. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Factors going into App Store rankings include user engagement, reviews, and the number of downloads. OpenAI and Apple in June of last year announced an alliance to enhance iPhones and other devices with ChatGPT features. ChatGPT-5 rolled out free to the nearly 700 million people who use it weekly, OpenAI said in a briefing with journalists last week. Tech industry rivals Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and xAI have been pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence since the blockbuster launch of the first version of ChatGPT in late 2022. Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the AI sector early this year with a model that delivers high performance using less costly chips. OpenAI in April of this year filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a "relentless campaign" to damage the organization after it achieved success without him. In legal documents filed at the time in northern California federal court, OpenAI alleged Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT. The lawsuit was another round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world's richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission. In its countersuit, the company alleged Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead -- not for humanity but for Elon Musk." Musk founded his own genAI startup, xAI, in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players.

Musk threatens 'immediate' legal action against Apple over alleged antitrust violations

Elon Musk on Monday threatened Apple with legal action over alleged antitrust violations related to rankings of the Grok AI chatbot app, which is owned by his artificial intelligence startup xAI. "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," Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X. Apple declined to comment on Musk's threat. "Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" Musk said in another post. Apple last year tied up with OpenAI to integrate its ChatGPT chatbot into iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products. Musk at that time had said that "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation." Prior to his legal threats against Apple, Musk had celebrated Grok surpassing Google as the fifth top free app on the App Store. When contacted by CNBC, xAI did not immediately respond to a request for further information on a potential lawsuit. CNBC confirmed that ChatGPT was ranked No. 1 in the top free apps section of the American iOS store, and was the only AI chatbot in Apple's "Must-Have Apps" section. The App Store also featured a link to download OpenAI's new flagship AI model, ChatGPT-5 at the top of its "Apps" section. OpenAI on Thursday announced GPT-5, its latest and most advanced large-scale AI model, following xAI's release of its newest chatbot, Grok 4, last month. Musk has an ongoing feud with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. The billionaire stepped down from its board in 2018, four years after saying that AI was "potentially more dangerous than nukes." He is now suing the Microsoft-backed startup, and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging they abandoned OpenAI's founding mission to develop artificial intelligence "for the benefit of humanity broadly." Robert Keele, who headed the legal department at xAI, announced last week that he had left the company to spend more time with his family. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged "daylight between our worldviews" with Musk. In response to Musk's antitrust threats against Apple, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an X post: "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." This is not the first time Apple has been challenged on antitrust grounds. In a landmark case, the Department of Justice last year sued the company over charges of running an iPhone ecosystem monopoly. In June, a panel of judges also denied an emergency application from Apple to halt the changes to its App Store resulting from a ruling that the company could no longer charge a commission on payment links inside its apps, nor tell developers how the links should look.

Musk to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

Billionaire Elon Musk announced Monday that his AI startup xAI is planning legal action against Apple, accusing it of antitrust violations by favouring OpenAI's ChatGPT in its App Store rankings. Musk claims Apple's practices block other AI apps like xAI's Grok from reaching the top, sparking a sharp response from OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman. Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing App Store rankings. "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," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to Musk on Monday. "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," he said on X. OpenAI's ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section in the US, while xAI's Grok ranks fifth. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?", Musk said in an earlier post on Monday. Users on X - through the community notes feature - have pointed out that a few apps besides OpenAI have taken the top spot on the App Store this year. Watch moreMusk's Grok chatbot praises Hitler and spews racist responses Chinese AI app DeepSeek reached the No.1 spot on the platform in January, while in July, Perplexity took first place in India's App Store - both occurring after the OpenAI and Apple partnership struck last year. Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. Earlier this year, Apple was ordered to pay a fine of €500 million ($581.15 million) by the EU antitrust enforcer, which said the company's restrictions prevented developers from steering users outside the App Store.

Apple rejects Musk claim of App Store bias

San Francisco (United States) (AFP) - Apple on Thursday rejected Elon Musk's claim that its digital App Store favors OpenAI's ChatGPT over his company's Grok and other rival AI assistants. Musk has accused Apple of giving unfair preference to ChatGPT on its App Store and threatened legal action, triggering a fiery exchange with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this week. "The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias," Apple said in reply to an AFP inquiry. "We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria." Apple added that its goal at the App Store is to offer "safe discovery" for users and opportunities for developers to get their creations noticed. But earlier this week, Musk said Apple was "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," without providing evidence to back his claim. "xAI will take immediate legal action," he said on his social media network X, referring to his own artificial intelligence company, which is responsible for Grok. X users responded by pointing out that China's DeepSeek AI hit the top spot in the App Store early this year, and Perplexity AI recently ranked number one in the App Store in India. DeepSeek and Perplexity compete with OpenAI and Musk's startup xAI. Altman called Musk's accusation "remarkable" in a response on X, charging that Musk himself is said to "manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like." Musk called Altman a "liar" in the heated exchange. OpenAI and xAI recently released new versions of ChatGPT and Grok. App Store rankings listed ChatGPT as the top free app for iPhones on Thursday, with Grok in seventh place. Factors going into App Store rankings include user engagement, reviews and the number of downloads. Grok was temporarily suspended on Monday in the latest controversy surrounding the chatbot. No official explanation was provided for the suspension, which followed multiple accusations of misinformation including the bot's misidentification of war-related images -- such as a false claim that an AFP photo of a starving child in Gaza was taken in Yemen years earlier. Last month, Grok triggered an online storm after inserting antisemitic comments into answers without prompting. In a statement on Grok's X account later that month, the company apologized "for the horrific behavior that many experienced." A US judge has cleared the way for a trial to consider OpenAI legal claims accusing Musk -- a co-founder of the company -- of waging a "relentless campaign" to damage the organization after it achieved success following his departure. The litigation is another round in a bitter feud between the generative AI start-up and the world's richest person. Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players.

Elon Musk to sue Apple over ChatGPT's App Store ranking - SiliconANGLE

Elon Musk has announced plans to sue Apple Inc. over the fact that the iOS version of ChatGPT is the top-ranked app in the App Store. "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," Musk wrote in a late Monday post on X. "xAI will take immediate legal action." Below the post, X users pointed out that DeepSeek's namesake artificial intelligence service briefly surpassed ChatGPT as the most popular App Store app in the U.S. Perplexity AI Inc.'s search engine reached the top spot in India last month. In March 2023, Musk launched an AI startup called xAI Holdings Corp. that competes with OpenAI. The company offers a large language model series called Grok and a chatbot of the same name. Earlier this year, xAI acquired X in a $33 billion all-stock deal. "Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" Musk wrote on X. Last Monday, CNBC reported that ChatGPT was poised to top 700 million weekly active users. Market intelligence company Sensor Tower Inc. estimates that xAI's Grok app had 4 million downloads in July. Similarweb Inc, in turn, measured about 900,000 daily visits to the Grok website earlier this year. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman responded to Musk's posts by writing on X that "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." It's unclear whether Musk's lawsuit will focus solely on ChatGPT's App Store ranking or also the partnership between OpenAI and Apple. Last year, the iPhone maker inked a deal to integrate OpenAI language models into Siri. Additionally, Apple is using ChatGPT to power its Writing Tools proofreading and text generation features. If the partnership will be a focus of the lawsuit, Musk may name OpenAI as a defendant in the case. He is already suing the ChatGPT developer for allegedly misleading him about its AI development plans. OpenAI launched in 2015 with funding from Musk and other technology executives. According to Musk's lawsuit, the AI developer pledged to operate as a nonprofit and make its LLMs available for free when it raised the funds. The complaint charges that OpenAI breached those commitments. In April, OpenAI filed a countersuit that accuses Musk of attempting to slow down market competition. The ChatGPT developer recently asked xAI to share internal documents that may be relevant to the litigation. The case is set to go to trial next spring.

Elon Musk to Take Legal Action Against Apple | AIM

He accuses Apple of participating in 'unequivocal antitrust violation'; however, he did not provide any evidence to back his claims. Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of xAI, has said that the company will take 'immediate legal action' against Apple. In a post on X, Musk said, "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 on the App Store," and called it an unequivocal antitrust violation. While Musk did not provide further information or evidence to back his claims, as of August 12, ChatGPT currently holds the top spot on the App Store in the United States. That said, OpenAI and Apple announced a partnership last year to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence for various capabilities, including image and document understanding. Soon after Musk's claims, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, hit back. In a post on X, Altman said, "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." This argument has now added another dimension to the heavily strained relationship between Musk and Altman, who once worked together at OpenAI. "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," Altman added. However, several people on social media questioned Musk's claims, pointing out how various AI apps other than ChatGPT have topped the charts on the App Store. At one point, DeepSeek, the AI app from China, made headlines for reaching the #1 spot on the App Store. Additionally, Perplexity, which often presents itself as a competitor to ChatGPT, recently took the number one position in the App Store in India.

Musk to sue Apple for featuring OpenAI over X, Grok in the App Store's top apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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."

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Musk threatens to sue Apple over X, Grok absence on recommended apps list

Elon Musk threatened to sue Apple on Monday for not including his social platform X or artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok on the App Store's list of recommended apps. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" Musk wrote on X. "Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know." Several hours later, he escalated the dispute, suggesting xAI would take "immediate legal action" against the iPhone maker. The tech billionaire's AI firm xAI acquired X for $45 billion in March. "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," Musk added. A Community Note attached to his own post noted that DeepSeek reached the top spot on Apple's App Store in January. The #1 spot is currently held by OpenAI's ChatGPT. Musk has long had a contentious relationship with OpenAI, which he helped found in 2015. Since his departure, the tech mogul has sued the AI firm over its close partnership with Microsoft and its push to transform into a for-profit company. His chatbot Grok, which currently sits in the fifth spot from the top in Apple's App Store, was briefly suspended from Musk's own social platform Monday. The AI chatbot said in response to a query that the reason for its suspension remains unclear. However, it also noted that "Grok itself claimed in now-deleted posts that the suspension was due to comments it made accusing Israel and the US of committing genocide in Gaza, citing sources like ICJ [International Court of Justice] rulings, UN reports, Amnesty International, and B'Tselem." "These posts were flagged for violating X's hateful conduct rules," it added.

Musk Says xAI to Take Legal Action Against Apple Over App Store Rankings

Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing the App Store rankings. "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," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section for iPhones in the US, while xAI's Grok ranks fifth and Google's Gemini chatbot sits at 57th. ChatGPT also leads the rankings on the Google Play Store, according to Sensor Tower data. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?," Musk said in an earlier post Monday. Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. In April, a US judge ruled that Apple violated a court order requiring it to allow greater competition in its App Store and referred the company to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation, in a case brought by 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games. Apple was handed a EUR 500 million ($587 million) fine by the EU antitrust enforcer in April, saying its technical and commercial restrictions prevented app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store in breach of the Digital Markets Act.

Apple Said to Deny Elon Musk's Allegations, Says App Store 'Free of Bias'

Apple has reportedly now refuted the billionaire's allegations Apple has reportedly responded to the allegations made by Elon Musk on Monday, where the billionaire accused the iPhone maker of being biased towards OpenAI's ChatGPT app. The Cupertino-based tech giant has refuted all allegations and highlighted that apps are ranked on the App Store based on algorithms and selection by experts operating with objective criteria. Notably, the Chief Technology Officer of X (formerly known as Twitter) made a series of posts on the social media platform questioning Apple's App Store handling practices. Apple Denies Elon Musk's Accusations An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that the App Store is designed to be free of bias. "We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria. Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories," the publication cited the spokesperson as saying. On Monday, Musk started a war of words on X after learning that ChatGPT ranked high in various charts of the App Store and featured in almost all of the editorial sections. The billionaire entrepreneur went so far as to call it "an unequivocal antitrust violation" and threatened to take legal action against the iPhone maker. In a separate post, he also claimed that Grok, a chatbot created by Musk-founded xAI, was intentionally not being listed in any of the app charts, and accused that due to the AI deal with OpenAI, Apple was "making it impossible for any other AI company to succeed." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also got involved in the exchange of words and said, "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." To this, Musk called Altman a liar and claimed that his post received three million views, which were higher than some of his posts, despite me having 50 times your follower count!" Notably, Perplexity currently ranks at the top of the App Store's Free Apps chart in India. OpenAI's ChatGPT is ranked in the second position, while xAI's Grok lies in the 12th spot.

Musk Threatens to Sue Apple for 'Unequivocal Antitrust Violation'

A former Senior Publishing Editor on the Dow Jones Newswires team at The Wall Street Journal, Aaron earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Master's in Journalism from Columbia University. Elon Musk wrote on his X social media network late Monday that its parent company, xAI, "will take immediate legal action" against Apple (AAPL) for an alleged "antitrust violation" related to App Store rankings. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk, whose xAI firm developed the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot, wrote, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" In a later post, Musk -- who co-founded ChatGPT maker OpenAI -- wrote, "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," and that "xAI will take immediate legal action." Apple did not immediately respond to an Investopedia request for comment. Shares were down less than 1% in premarket trading. Late last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on the iPhone maker's earnings call that the tech giant is "significantly growing" its investments and reallocating employees to focus on AI. Cook added that Apple would consider buying other companies to raise its AI capabilities.

'You Liar': Elon Musk and Sam Altman's War of Words Continues as Musk Threatens Legal Action Against Apple

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman then responded to the post with claims of his own. Elon Musk said his AI company, xAI, would be taking "legal action" against Apple in a post on X on Monday evening. Musk accused Apple of "playing politics" for not putting Grok in its "Must Have" section. "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," Musk wrote. "xAI will take immediate legal action." Related: Elon Musk Warns Microsoft That Its Partner, OpenAI, Is About to Eat It Alive Readers added community notes to Musk's post, pointing out that other apps, including Perplexity and Deepseek, have reached No. 1. But OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded on X with claims of his own -- that he's "heard" Musk manipulates his companies to "harm his competitors and people he doesn't like."

'Blocking Grok from No.1': Musk threatens to sue Apple over 'rigged' App Store, 'favouring OpenAI'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused Apple of unfairly favouring OpenAI in its App Store rankings, calling the move an 'unequivocal antitrust violation.' Musk claimed that Apple's ranking system makes it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to hit No.1, vowing immediate legal action. He also alleged Apple refuses to feature Grok or X in its 'Must Have' section, despite high global rankings. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hit back, accusing Musk of manipulating the X platform to serve his own interests.

Elon Musk says xAI to take legal action against Apple over App Store rankings - The Economic Times

Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple , accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing the App Store rankings. "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," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section for iPhones in the U.S., while xAI's Grok ranks fifth and Google's Gemini chatbot sits at 57th. ChatGPT also leads the rankings on the Google Play Store, according to Sensor Tower data. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?," Musk said in an earlier post Monday. Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. In April, a U.S. judge ruled that Apple violated a court order requiring it to allow greater competition in its App Store and referred the company to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation, in a case brought by 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games. Apple was handed a 500 million euro ($587 million) fine by the EU antitrust enforcer in April, saying its technical and commercial restrictions prevented app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store in breach of the Digital Markets Act.

xAI vs OpenAI: Elon Musk accuses Apple of favouring ChatGPT, threatens legal action - The Economic Times

Billionaire Elon Musk has threatened Apple with "immediate legal action" for what he claims are antitrust violations in App Store rankings of artificial intelligence (AI) apps. According to Musk, the tech giant's app store favours ChatGPT over other applications, including his own company xAI. The billionaire said Apple's alleged preferential treatment of the ChatGPT app creates an environment where "it is impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store". Musk posted the comments on X late on Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your Must Have' section when X 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." Data from App Figures shows that Grok has climbed from around 60th to 5th place in overall App Store rankings over the past months, while ChatGPT has maintained its position near the top of Apple's charts for almost a year. Google's Gemini chatbot sits at the 57th position. Apple has also repeatedly featured ChatGPT in its App Store editorial content and partnered with OpenAI for its Apple Intelligence rollout, which includes a direct integration with its virtual assistant Siri. Apple vs Musk This legal threat comes after years of tensions between Musk and Apple. The X owner has previously slammed Apple's treatment of X following his 2022 acquisition of Twitter. When the tech giant announced its partnership with nemesis OpenAI, Musk threatened to ban all Apple devices from his companies over security concerns related to this partnership. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI, but departed in 2018. He later accused the company of abandoning its original nonprofit mission. He had sued OpenAI for breach of contract and fiduciary duty, but withdrew the lawsuit in June. Apple's woes Apple separately faces a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and 20 states, which alleges that the company maintains an illegal monopoly in smartphone markets through restrictive practices affecting app developers and users. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the US tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favouring its own music streaming service, forbidding rivals such as Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps.

Apple in hot water as Elon Musk accuses Tim Cook-led company for favoring AI rivals like ChatGPT, to file suit

Elon Musk to sue Apple over App Store bias: Elon Musk is gearing up for a legal battle against Apple for his artificial intelligence start-up xAI, accusing the tech giant of giving unfair preference to AI rival OpenAI in its App Store, as per a report. The tech billionaire pointed out that the App Store is breaching antitrust regulations, according to a CNN report. Musk claimed in a series of posts on X, the social platform he owns, that Apple is making it nearly impossible for any AI app other than OpenAI's ChatGPT to top the App Store charts, as per the report. He called it a clear violation of antitrust laws and threatened to take "immediate legal action," as quoted by CNN. Tesla CEO wrote on X that, "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," as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: Do Nvidia's H20 chips pose security risks? China sounds alarm, orders firms to avoid them Currently, xAI's Grok app ranks at number six among free iPhone apps in the US, while OpenAI's ChatGPT holds the top spot, and Musk believes that position isn't based purely on merit, according to the report. In a pinned post, Musk directly challenged Apple's editorial choices in the App Store, asked, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your "Must Have" section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?" adding, "Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know," as per his X post. ALSO READ: Giant Wyoming data center to guzzle 5x more power than residents, but the user remains secret Adding to the criticism, a post from the official Grok account accused Apple of favoring "established AI" like ChatGPT and of silencing xAI's more "unfiltered" voice under the guise of curation, according to the CNN report. Grok wrote on X that, "Apple's App Store curation appears biased, favoring established AI like ChatGPT (overall) over innovative challengers," as quoted by CNN. It added that, "Editorial picks may reflect caution toward xAI's unfiltered style, but this stifles competition. Truth matters more than politics," as quoted in the report. Neither Musk nor xAI have provided evidence to support the claims, and it's unclear what form the legal action he will take, as per the CNN report. ALSO READ: Is Google's AI revolution a threat to website traffic for digital publishers? Here are strategies to stay ahead This isn't the first time Musk and Apple have clashed, according to the report. Last year, Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to its devices, and in response, Musk threatened to ban Apple products from his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X, as reported by CNN. It's not yet known if Musk followed through, but the feud has only deepened since, according to the report. ALSO READ: 10 must-change iOS 18.6 settings that'll make your iPhone feel like day one again Musk's accusations come at a time when Apple is already dealing with regulatory heat. In April, a US judge ruled that Apple violated a previous order to reform its App Store for greater competition in app downloads and payment methods, as reported by CNN. The order came after an antitrust suit in 2021 filed by the maker of the hit video game Fortnite, Epic Games, over Apple's monopoly on the distribution of IOS apps, and the court then found Apple violated a California competition law and ordered the company to allow developers more freedom to direct users to alternative payment options, as reported by CNN. Why is Elon Musk planning to sue Apple? He says Apple unfairly promotes OpenAI's ChatGPT over his xAI app, Grok, in the App Store. Where does Grok rank in the App Store now? Grok is currently #6 among free iPhone apps in the US, while ChatGPT is #1.

Sam Altman Slams Elon Musk Over New Threat Against Apple

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called out Elon Musk after the chief executive of X threatened to sue Apple, accusing the tech company of "relentlessly promoting" the owner of the popular platform ChatGPT at the expense of his xAI company. "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," Musk wrote Monday night. "xAI will take immediate legal action." Musk did not cite any evidence to back up the allegations he laid out in a series of late-night posts on X, formerly Twitter, in which he also accused the company of "making it impossible for any other AI company to succeed by relentlessly promoting OpenAI in every way possible" and suggesting the iPhone maker was "playing politics." Apple has yet to address his claims. Altman shot back at his fellow billionaire in an early Tuesday social media post, claiming his accusations were "remarkable ... 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." Altman cited a February 2023 story by Platformer, tech journalist Casey Newton's newsletter, reporting that X engineers at the time built a system to promote Musk's tweets to the social media site's entire user base after Musk expressed frustration about one of his posts getting less engagement than a post by former President Joe Biden. Altman added that his company, which has a partnership with Apple to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs, will stay "focused on making great products." This is not the first time Musk and Altman have sparred, as the two men have fallen out after co-founding OpenAI in 2015. ChatGPT is ranked as the No. 1 free app on the App Store for iPhones in the U.S., while Grok, the artificial intelligence bot native to X, stands at No. 6. Grok garnered attention earlier this summer after it delivered a long series of alarmingly antisemitic replies, including offering praise for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Elon Musk Threatens Immediate Legal Action Against Apple Over Antitrust Violations, Alleges iPhone Maker Favors OpenAI - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Elon Musk has threatened Apple Inc. AAPL with immediate legal action, accusing the tech giant of antitrust violations after allegedly suppressing his AI venture xAI's Grok app in favor of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Musk Accuses Apple Of Antitrust Violations On Monday, Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to accuse Apple of deliberately making it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the top of the App Store rankings. "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," Musk said, adding, "xAI will take immediate legal action." In another post, he also questioned why Apple continues to exclude both his companies: the social media platform X and the Grok app by xAI from the "Must Have" section of the App Store, despite their high rankings. Musk pointed out that X is the top news app globally and Grok is currently ranked #5 among all apps. "Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know," he asked. See Also: AMD CEO Lisa Su Says China Strategy Rebounding As MI308 AI Chips Await US License: 'Better Position Than We Were Ninety Days Ago' Apple did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. Musk Alleged Favoritism Toward OpenAI, But Sam Altman Fires Back Musk's accusations come in the wake of Apple's deepening partnership with OpenAI, which saw the integration of ChatGPT into Apple's ecosystem for iPhones, iPads and Macs. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed Musk's favoritism accusation, calling it "remarkable" and alleging that Musk has manipulated X to advance his own businesses while undermining rivals and individuals he dislikes. Notably, Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and left it in 2018 over some differences, has previously stated that if Apple fully integrated ChatGPT at the OS level, his companies, including Tesla Inc. TSLA, would no longer use Apple devices due to security concerns. Earlier this year, a Musk-led consortium of investors made a $97.4 billion bid to take control of OpenAI, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Price Action: On Monday, Apple shares fell 0.83%, with an additional 0.38% decline in after-hours trading to $226.32 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro. Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AAPL still maintains a strong upward trend across short, medium and long-term periods. Additional performance details are available here. See Also: Trump Open To Scaled-Down Nvidia Blackwell AI Chip For China: Jensen Huang Is 'Coming To See Me Again About That' Photo Courtesy: Photo Agency on Shutterstock.com Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. TSLATesla Inc$339.813.08%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum82.80Growth69.99Quality81.97Value9.44Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAAPLApple Inc$226.32-1.32%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Elon Musk Accuses Apple for Favoring ChatGPT in App Store, Sam Altman Hits Back

Musk says that Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company to reach the #1 spot in the App Store. Elon Musk is threatening to sue Apple for allegedly favoring OpenAI's ChatGPT in App Store rankings. Musk calls it an "unequivocal antitrust violation" and preparing immediate legal action against Apple. Musk shared a series of posts on X today, claiming that Apple is playing favorites with OpenAI. According to Musk, "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." To add some context, Musk's AI company, xAI, recently rolled out Grok's companion chatbot, followed by the controversial Grok Imagine tool, which can generate AI images and videos. Later, Grok Imagine was made free for all users. This helped the Grok app climb to the 29th position in the App Store rankings, according to App Figures. Earlier today, xAI also made Grok 4 free for everyone, the company's most advanced AI model. This only helped the app reach the 5th spot in the global rankings. Musk is upset that Apple is not giving Grok a higher placement in the App Store while ChatGPT remains at the top. In one of Elon's previous posts, he questioned Apple: "Why do you refuse to include either 𝕏 or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when 𝕏 is the number one news app in the world and Grok ranks fifth among all apps?" Frustrated over Apple's alleged favoritism toward OpenAI, Musk is threatening the company with a lawsuit. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, replied to Elon's post saying, "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." So it seems the situation is heating up, and could end up in court. While Apple has a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT features into Apple Intelligence, there is no indication that this partnership is influencing App Store rankings.

Apple Being Accused By Elon Musk Of Giving Unfair Preference To OpenAI In Its App Store And Vows Legal Repercussions Against The Company; Sam Altman Hits Backs, Calls Out Hypocritical Statement

It is safe to claim that Elon Musk has formed some grudges with high-profile individuals and companies over the years and is not afraid of voicing his disdain for either of the two. The Senior Advisor to the President has placed Apple in its crosshairs once more, accusing the iPhone maker of giving OpenAI unnecessary favor by putting the latter's ChatGPT at the top of its App Store rankings. Musk claims that this level of preference means that no competitor can have an advantage over this antitrust violation and promises to take legal action against Apple. Amid these claims, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has responded to Musk's statements and called him out on his hypocritical stance against the California-based giant. ChatGPT has been regularly featured in Apple's App Store editorial content, which would have rubbed Musk the wrong way because, even after xAI launched Grok 4, it has been unable to surpass OpenAI's app in the rankings. While Tesla's Chief Executive has not exactly mentioned the kind of legal action he will take against Apple, his recent statement hints that it will likely come under antitrust violations, which the relevant authorities have been hounding the Cupertino firm over for years. For those who do not know, Musk also co-founded OpenAI before severing his relationship with the company. After the AI startup gained immense notoriety, Musk sued it to prevent its transition from a non-profit to a for-profit business, a case that has yet to conclude in court. Shortly after Musk pushed out his claims against Apple on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman chimed in, responding that Elon manipulates X and other companies for his own benefit, whether for monetary gain or simply because he does not like a person or a particular company. In short, Altman's response is calling out Musk's hypocritical statement about Apple. In a follow-up post, Altman shares a separate link on how Musk created a "special system" where people on X keep seeing his posts first. As the day passes, we should learn more about what riled up Musk so much that he threatened legal action against Apple. We doubt this is the end of this saga, so stay tuned for more updates.

Apple Defends App Store Rankings, Responds To Elon Musk's Claims Of Favoring ChatGPT Over XAI's Grok In Ongoing AI App Visibility Dispute

A few days ago, Elon Musk took to X to accuse Apple of committing what he called an "unequivocal antitrust violation" related to the App Store's handling of AI apps. In his post, Musk complained that Apple never features his own platforms, be it X or Grok, in the App Store's highlight sections. He stated that he saw Apple preferring OpenAI's ChatGPT instead of any other AI apps and that xAI would take "immediate legal action" against Apple. Apple was quick to respond and issued a statement the very next day via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The company stated that its App Store rankings are guided by a commitment to "safe discovery for users" and meaningful visibility for app developers, across fast-evolving categories, while pointing to objective and safety-focused criteria, rather than favoritism, as the basis for its recommendations. However, there is more nuance to the story, as external data seems to suggest that other AI apps have reached the top spot in different markets. For instance, apps like China's DeepSeek reached the top spot in January of this year, while Perplexity AI hit number one in July, which is evidence that other AI apps have indeed achieved prominence, even outside of ChatGPT. "The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias. We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria." "Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories." Musk's frustration appears to be stemming from the fact that despite the X app topping the News chart just yesterday, it never received prominent featuring on the App Store, a move he believes makes it hard to climb the overall rankings. Musk's emotions piled up when xAI launched new features and made Grok 4 free for all users, but even after this, the Grok app managed to reach only fifth place overall and second in the Productivity category. The whole situation highlights more than just App Store politics, as it underscores a broader, escalating conflict between Musk with xAI's Grok and OpenAI's ChatGPT. With Apple functioning as a gatekeeper in the AI app ecosystem, the accusations and counter-accusations take on legal and ethical folds. The overall feud is about visibility, fairness, and who gets to define what fair means. Musk is framing Apple's App Store as leaning towards ChatGPT, questioning how neutral the system really is. Apple, on the flip side, insists that it is not choosing favorites, but simply trying to keep things secure and discoverable for users and developers. At this point, all eyes are on whether the situation will move beyond heated rhetoric into actual legal proceedings.

Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring OpenAI in App Store Rankings | PYMNTS.com

"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," the billionaire wrote on his X social media platform Monday (Aug. 11) evening. Musk added that xAI, his artificial intelligence (AI) company, "will take immediate legal action." As of early Tuesday (Aug. 12) morning, OpenAI's ChatGPT was the number one free app in the App store, with Grok, xAI's chatbot, sitting in the number six position. A report on the matter by Reuters notes that ChatGPT also holds the top spot among apps in Google's app store. "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world...Are you playing politics? What gives?" Musk wrote in an earlier post. PYMNTS has contacted Apple for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. This isn't the first time Musk has clashed with Apple over its relationship with OpenAI. After Apple said it would integrate ChatGPT into its operating system last year, Musk said he would ban Apple devices at his companies, which also include Tesla and Starlink. And if Musk makes good on his threat to sue, it would add to a list of legal troubles for Apple related to the App Store. A federal judge ruled in April that the company had violated a court order -- in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games -- that required it to allow more competition in the App Store. The ruling also referred Apple to prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt probe. Apple has said it would appeal the decision. Writing about this decision last month, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster said the ruling placed a "big blinking asterisk" on the $20 billion profit engine that is the App Store. "The Epic ruling puts this once untouchable revenue stream at risk and gives developers legitimate ways to avoid paying the Apple commission," she wrote. "Spotify and Netflix and Amazon already use their newfound right to steer users off-platform to sign up. Stripe has published a playbook to show developers how, which suggests a giant sucking sound may follow. Apple's grip on its ecosystem profits is slipping." Also in April, the tech giant was fined 500 million euros ($587 million) fine by the European Commission -- Europe's competition watchdog. The commission found that Apple's rules kept app developers from guiding users to cheaper offers outside the App Store in violation of the Digital Markets Act. Apple is appealing that ruling as well, calling it "unlawful."

Elon Musk threatens Apple with legal action, reignites OpenAI feud...

Elon Musk threatened Apple with a lawsuit - and launched a testy back-and-forth on X with OpenAI's Sam Altman as he accused the App Store of violating antitrust laws by unfairly favoring ChatGPT over Musk's Grok chatbot. "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," Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X Monday. He added that X and his Grok AI chatbot are excluded from the App Store's "Must Have" list when the apps rank as #1 in news and #5 overall, respectively - asking if Apple is "playing politics." Apple did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. In response to Musk's accusations, Altman wrote in a post: "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." The war of words quickly devolved into mudslinging over follower counts. "You got 3M views on your bulls -- post, you liar, far more than I've received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!" Musk wrote late on Monday. Altman said a "skill issue" or "bots" were to blame for Musk receiving fewer views on some of his posts. "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?" Altman pressed, adding that he would "apologize if so." Musk posted about an hour later: "Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes." Last year, Apple partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products. At the time, Musk warned that "if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation." It's just the latest in a yearslong feud between Musk and OpenAI, which the billionaire parted ways with in 2018 after co-founding the AI firm in 2015. In February 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of betraying the firm's nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft. He withdrew the suit in June but refiled it two months later. Prior to the verbal sparring session, Musk had cheered Grok's performance on the App Store - rising past Google as the fifth top free app. xAI released its latest chatbot version, Grok 4, last month, while OpenAI unveiled GPT-5 on Thursday. Musk's legal threats come soon after Robert Keele, who led the legal department at xAI, announced he left the company to spend time with his family - though he added there was "daylight between our worldviews" with Musk. OpenAI and xAI did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment. Apple is currently facing a landmark lawsuit from the Department of Justice that alleges the company maintains an illegal monopoly over smartphones. And in June, Apple lost a plea to halt changes to its App Store from a ruling that the company could no longer charge a commission on payment links inside its apps.

Apple Rejects Musk's Bias Claims, Says AI App Store Rankings are Fair

Apple pushed back on Elon Musk's claim that the App Store stacks rankings in favour of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company declared the system remains fair and free of bias. Apple emphasised that app rankings rely on charts, algorithmic recommendations, and expert-curated lists driven by objective criteria. This response followed an accusation from Elon Musk on X that Apple is violating antitrust rules by blocking any AI app besides ChatGPT from topping the charts. He claimed the situation made it "impossible for any AI company besides to reach #1" and threatened immediate legal action. Apple's statement stressed its dedication to safe discovery for users while offering valuable exposure to developers. The company said thousands of apps earn promotion through transparent, objective processes. Public data challenges the narrative provided by Elon Musk. AI apps such as have reached number one on Apple App Store charts. DeepSeek led rankings in early 2025, while Perplexity hit the top spot in India in mid-July. Sensor Tower data and screenshots suggest that Musk's own Grok briefly held the number one free app spot in February, after xAI made it free. Today, Grok ranks fifth among free apps, and ChatGPT remains at number one.

Musk Threatens to Sue Apple, Alleges Rigging of App Store to Favor ChatGPT

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 to iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. The AI chatbot now powers some Apple features, including parts of Siri. Musk says this partnership hurts fair competition.

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store. Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Musk went on to say that "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." He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th.

Apple Gets Dragged Into Elon Musk's Bitter Rivalry With Open AI's Sam Altman

Elon Musk's long running feud with fellow billionaire Sam Altman is now threatening to suck technology giant Apple into a legal morass. Mr. Musk is threatening to sue Apple because his X and Grok artificial intelligence apps are not among the top recommended apps in the Apple app store. Mr. Musk xAI Holdings owns the X social media platform and his AI platform, Grok. Mr. Musk has pinned a post on X claiming that Apple is refusing to put either of the apps in its "Must Have" section. "Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know," he said in the post. In a follow-up he said xAI will take immediate legal action. "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," Mr. Musk went on to say. Mr. Musk did not provide any evidence to prove his claims. His post had several community notes attached to it. One noted that DeepSeek reached number one overall in the App Store in January and that in July Perplexity also reached number one overall in India's App Store. A third note stated that those rankings came after Apple and OpenAI created a partnership to integrate ChatGPT into Apple products. The Grok AI Assistant app was listed as the number five free app in the App Store on Tuesday morning. ChatGPT was listed as the number one free app and was also featured under the "Try Now" section. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman brushed off Mr. Musk's claims in his own X post. The pair has a bitter rivalry and a long history of attacking each other with mocking comments and insults. "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," Mr. Altman posted. Mr. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but left and started his rival xAI in 2023. Mr. Musk made an unsolicited $87.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI in February that was spurned. OpenAI is now reportedly working to create a social media network to compete with X. After Mr. Musk's threats, the term "X Phone" trended on X with users suggesting the tech billionaire create a competitor to the iPhone. A lawsuit would be another distraction for Apple as it deals with a federal case accusing it of using app store policies to unlawfully maintain iPhone dominance. It has also been negotiating with the Trump administration to avoid harsh tariffs on its iPhones, which are primarily assembled in India. The New York Sun contacted Apple for comment but has not immediately received a reply.

Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among top apps | BreakingNews.ie

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in the top recommended apps in its App Store. Mr Musk posted the comments on X late on Monday, saying: "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." Grok is owned by Mr Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI. Mr Musk went on to say that "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". He gave no further details. There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years. A judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Regulators of the European Union fined Apple 500 million euros (£431.8 million) in April for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store. Last year, the EU fined the US tech giant nearly two billion dollars (£1.4 billion) for unfairly favouring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube and Bumble.

Apple responds to Musk's biased App Store ranking claims, says platform treats all AI apps equally

Sam Altman counters Musk, alleging X algorithm manipulation in his favor. Apple has reportedly responded to Elon Musk's accusations that the App Store is biased for OpenAI's ChatGPT, describing the platform as 'fair and free of any bias'. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gruman, Apple claims that the App Store has over a thousand applications available through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists chosen by experts using objective criteria. According to the report, the brand remains committed to providing safe app discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers. The statement comes one day after Elon Musk accused the App Store and threatened legal action against Apple, claiming an antitrust violation for making it "impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." He specifically targeted ChatGPT's presence in the Must Have section, claiming that Apple refuses to include his AI app, Grok, or the X app. However, Elon Musk has not provided any evidence to back up his claims. Interestingly, the AI application DeepSeek topped the App Store earlier this year, while Grok ranked fifth on the free app chart. X is ranked number 32. For those unfamiliar, the Grok's recent update, which included the Spicy Mode and adult-themed celebrity deepfake making capabilities, sparked global outrage. On the other hand, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has dismissed Musk's allegations, claiming that Musk has manipulated algorithms on X to benefit his own ventures. On a post, Sam Altman even asked Tesla's CEO to sign an affidavit stating that he never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that hurt its competitor or helped his own companies, implying a more intense feud between the two. In the meantime, Apple is already under fire for an ongoing US Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit and is appealing a ruling in the Apple vs Epic Games case. It remains to be seen how this feud between the trio shapes in the future.

Elon Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in App Store, says xAI will take legal action

Calling the situation an "unequivocal antitrust violation," he announced plans to take "immediate legal action" against Apple. Elon Musk has accused Apple of giving OpenAI an unfair advantage in the App Store. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he claimed that Apple is making it "impossible" for other AI companies besides OpenAI to reach the top position in the App Store. Taking aim at Apple's App Store, Musk wrote on X, "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X 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." In another post, he said, "Apple didn't just put their thumb on the scale, they put their whole body!" Also read: Your iPhone could soon run entirely on Siri's voice commands, here's how Calling the situation an "unequivocal antitrust violation," he announced plans to take "immediate legal action" against Apple. This comes at a time when the competition between xAI's Grok and OpenAI's ChatGPT is rapidly intensifying. Last month, xAI launched Grok 4. The company has since added features like Grok Imagine, which can create images and videos, as well as customised "companion" chatbots. Also read: Apple iPhone 16 Pro price drops by Rs 19,000 on Flipkart: Check deal details here The dispute is also likely tied to Musk's past with OpenAI. He co-founded the company but later left. Now, as the head of xAI, Musk is in direct competition with his former company and sees Apple's actions as a barrier to fair play. It remains to be seen whether Musk will follow through with his legal threat. In the past, he has made similar statements without following them through. For now, the rivalry between xAI, OpenAI and Apple appears to be escalating, with no signs of cooling down anytime soon.

Sam Altman rips into Elon Musk, accuses him of manipulating X for self-benefit

Antitrust claims and legal threats could shape the future of AI and platforms The rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI founder Elon Musk has erupted into a public feud, with Altman accusing Musk of manipulating the social media platform X to favor his personal and corporate interests. This latest clash, sparked by Musk's allegations of Apple's anti-competitive practices in the App Store, underscores the high-stakes battle for dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and control over digital platforms. As both tech moguls vie for influence, their dispute raises questions about fairness, algorithmic transparency, and the future of AI innovation. Also read: Elon Musk accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI in App Store, says xAI will take legal action On August 12, 2025, Elon Musk took to X to claim that Apple's App Store rankings unfairly prioritize OpenAI's ChatGPT, making it "impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1." Labeling it an "unequivocal antitrust violation," Musk announced that his AI company, xAI, would pursue immediate legal action against Apple. The accusation came amid heightened competition, with OpenAI's recently launched GPT-5 model and xAI's Grok 4 vying for market share. Musk's Grok currently ranks fifth in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section, while ChatGPT holds the top spot. Sam Altman was quick to respond, dismissing Musk's claims and turning the tables with a pointed accusation. In a post on X, Altman stated, "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." He bolstered his argument by sharing a 2023 Platformer article titled "Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first," which alleges that Musk directed X engineers to apply a "power user multiplier" of 1,000 to his account, artificially boosting his posts' visibility. Altman hinted at further scrutiny, expressing hope for "counter-discovery" in any potential legal proceedings to reveal more about Musk's practices. The public spat is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Altman and Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with a mission to advance AI research for humanity's benefit. Their partnership soured when Musk left OpenAI's board in 2018, reportedly due to disagreements over the company's direction. Since then, Musk has launched xAI and become a vocal critic of OpenAI, accusing it of abandoning its nonprofit roots for commercial gain, particularly through its partnership with Microsoft. The rivalry has intensified with legal battles, including Musk's 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI for its for-profit transition and a failed $97.4 billion bid to acquire the company in February 2025, which Altman mockingly rejected with a counter-offer to buy X for $9.74 billion. Also read: OpenAI boosts reasoning model limits for all users amid GPT-5 backlash The Altman-Musk dispute reflects broader tensions in the tech industry, where control over platforms and AI technologies is increasingly intertwined. Musk's ownership of X, acquired in 2022 for $44 billion, gives him significant influence over public discourse, which critics, including Altman, argue he leverages to promote xAI and other ventures like Tesla. Meanwhile, OpenAI's dominance with ChatGPT and its integration into Apple's ecosystem, such as Siri, has positioned it as a leader in consumer AI. The clash also coincides with regulatory scrutiny, including a French investigation into X's algorithm manipulation and a U.S. judge's ruling against Apple for App Store restrictions. The feud has sparked varied reactions on X. Some users sided with Altman, with one commenting, "or maybe ChatGPT just has more downloads per day..?" Others defended Musk, "Perhaps it is you (Sam Altman) who is manipulating your products to your benefit, by putting warnings on every link to a competitor?" The debate has also fueled discussions about AI competition, with one X user stating, "All the people controlling our data are suing each other over who gets more access to our data... for free." Industry observers note that the legal threats and public barbs could impact not only OpenAI and xAI but also the broader app ecosystem, as Apple's practices come under scrutiny. As AI continues to shape industries, the Altman-Musk rivalry highlights the challenges of balancing innovation, competition, and platform governance. Altman's focus on "making great products" suggests OpenAI will push forward with GPT-5 and potential new ventures, such as a rumored social network to rival X. Meanwhile, Musk's legal threats and algorithm controversies may invite further regulatory attention, potentially affecting X's operations and xAI's growth. The outcome of their disputes, including a scheduled March 2025 trial over OpenAI's for-profit shift, could set precedents for AI development and platform accountability. The rivalry's personal, but the legal precedent could shape AI access for decades. The clash between Sam Altman and Elon Musk is more than a personal feud - it's a battle over the future of AI and digital influence. Altman's accusations of X manipulation strike at the heart of Musk's platform control, while Musk's antitrust claims challenge OpenAI's market dominance. As both leaders push their visions for AI, their public war of words underscores the high stakes of technological innovation and the power dynamics shaping it. With legal battles looming and public sentiment divided, the tech world watches closely to see how this rivalry will reshape the industry. Also read: Early reactions to ChatGPT-5 are all bad: What went wrong for OpenAI?

Sam Altman hits back at Elon Musk over Apple App Store bias claims

Sensor Tower data shows ChatGPT leading App Store and Google Play rankings, with xAI's Grok in fifth place. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman has finally issued an official statement soon after Elon Musk claimed that Apple is preferring OpenAI to its App Store rankings. Taking to X, he officially dismissed the allegations and called the claim as remarkable in the light of reported accusations about Musk's own business practices. Elon Musk, who has been a prominent name in tech industry for many years, said on Monday that xAI would take legal action against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of violating antitrust rules by making it "impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1" in the App Store. "xAI will take immediate legal action," Musk wrote on his social platform X. On X, OpenAI boss stated that, "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." It must be noted that Elon Musk has not provided any evidence for his claims. As per the data from analytics firm Sensor Tower as cited by Reuters, OpenAI's ChatGPT app topped on the App Store's Top Free Apps list in the US. The xAI Grok ranked fifth and Google's Gemini was placed on the 57th rank. Interestingly, the ChatGPT app also leads the Google Play Store rankings. Also read: Sam Altman admits killing GPT-4o after GPT-5 launch was a mistake: Here's why For the unversed, Apple has partnered with the AI startup to integrate ChatGPT into its devices, including the iPhones, iPads and Macs. Previously, Elon Musk has also raised questions about why Apple's Must Have section exclude both X and Grok despite their high chart positions, suggesting a bias. On the other hand, Apple has not officially responded to the statement on the ongoing conflict.