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

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.”

Battle over App Store rankings

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?”

Apple and OpenAI face growing scrutiny

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.

The broader stakes

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.

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