Musk threatens Apple with legal action in escalating feud with Altman’s OpenAI
Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of unfairly favouring ChatGPT developer OpenAI in its App Store rankings and listings.
In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX chief claimed Apple was making it “impossible” for any other AI company to reach the number one position in the App Store, calling the move an “unequivocal antitrust violation”.
He added that his social media platform X, and his AI chatbot Grok, were excluded from Apple’s “must have” section.
“X is the number one news app in the world and Grok is number five among all apps”, Musk wrote.
ChatGPT currently tops Apple’s “Top Free Apps” chart in the UK, with Grok in third place, while X is not in the top 40.
Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI in June 2024, integrating ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs.
There is no evidence Apple has restricted rival AI apps, and other services including Chinese AI app DeepSeek and Perplexity AI have reached the top of the App Store charts since the partnership began.
Altman responds
Musk’s comments prompted a sharp reply from OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who linked to a report alleging Musk had altered X’s algorithm to boost his own posts.
“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”, Altman wrote.
The exchange is the latest in a long-running feud between the two billionaires, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before Musk’s departure three years later.
The split has since led to lawsuits, counter-suits, and repeated public criticism from both sides over OpenAI’s move to a for-profit structure and its partnerships with Microsoft and Apple.
Musk sued OpenAI in March 2024, accusing the company of abandoning its non-profit mission to prioritise revenue growth.
He dropped the case months later, but OpenAI filed its own lawsuit in April, accusing Musk of using “bad-faith tactics” to slow its development.
Earlier this year, Musk made a failed $100bn (£78bn) bid to buy the firm outright.
Apple store scrutiny
The dispute comes amid heightened regulatory attention on Apple’s App Store.
The EU fined Apple €500m (£427m) in early 2024 for breaching competition rules by preventing developers from directing users to alternative payment options.
The US Department of Justice has also filed an antitrust suit alleging Apple maintains an unlawful monopoly over the smartphone market.