Elon Musk’s xAI Plans Legal Action Against Apple Over Alleged App Store Antitrust Breach
Elon Musk announced on Monday that his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, will take legal action against Apple, accusing the tech giant of violating antitrust laws through its App Store ranking practices. Musk claims Apple’s policies make it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to secure the top position in the store, calling the alleged behavior “an unequivocal antitrust violation.”
Currently, OpenAI’s ChatGPT occupies the number-one spot in the U.S. iPhone App Store’s “Top Free Apps” category, with xAI’s Grok ranked fifth and Google’s Gemini in 57th place. ChatGPT also leads on Google Play, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Musk suggested Apple’s partnership with OpenAI—which integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs—may be influencing rankings and promotional placement.
Musk criticized Apple for excluding both X, his social media platform, and Grok from the App Store’s “Must Have” section, despite X being the “#1 news app in the world” and Grok ranking among the top five apps overall. He suggested in a post that Apple may be “playing politics” with its promotional decisions.
Apple, OpenAI, and xAI have yet to respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, and Musk has not presented direct evidence to support his allegations. However, the dispute emerges amid heightened global scrutiny of Apple’s App Store policies, with regulators and rivals accusing the company of maintaining an unfair competitive advantage.
Apple has already faced significant legal and regulatory challenges in recent months. In April, a U.S. judge found Apple in violation of a court order aimed at increasing competition in the App Store, referring the company for a criminal contempt probe in a case brought by “Fortnite” developer Epic Games. That same month, the European Union fined Apple €500 million ($587 million) for restricting app developers from offering users cheaper deals outside the App Store, in violation of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
Source: Reuters