Musk claims Apple is unfairly boosting OpenAI’s ChatGPT over rivals.
Nairobi, Kenya – Elon Musk has accused Apple of anti-competitive conduct, alleging the iPhone maker is stacking the deck in favour of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in App Store rankings while sidelining competitors like his own chatbot, Grok.
Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that xAI would take “immediate legal action,” calling Apple’s behaviour “an unequivocal antitrust violation.”
According to Sensor Tower data, ChatGPT is currently the No. 1 free app in the US App Store, Grok sits at No. 5, and Google’s Gemini is far behind at No. 57.
Musk also slammed Apple for excluding Grok and his social platform X from the App Store’s “Must Have” section, despite what he described as their strong user traction.
Apple announced in June a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT directly into iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This has sparked questions from rivals over whether Apple’s commercial relationships influence its app store recommendations.
The clash comes as Apple faces mounting legal and regulatory trouble:
In April, a US judge found it breached a competition-promoting court order, referring it to prosecutors for possible criminal contempt. The same month, the EU fined Apple €500m for limiting developers from directing users to cheaper offers outside the App Store, a violation of the Digital Markets Act.
With Musk’s threat now in the mix, Apple’s control over its digital marketplace is under more pressure than ever.
