xAI is mulling plans to sue Apple over alleged antitrust violations. The intention was made known by Elon Musk, who mentioned that Apple favors OpenAI in its App Store and blocks other AI companies, such as xAI, from reaching the top spot.
Elon Musk called this act an “unequivocal antitrust violation” and says xAI will sue immediately. Despite the popularity of the platforms, Musk mentioned that Apple has refused to feature his AI chatbot Grok or the X platform in the App Store’s “Must Have” section. He added that this promotion gives OpenAI an edge and promotes unfair competition in the AI market.
Musk accuses Apple of blocking xAI and other AI apps
In his latest posts on X, Musk accused Apple of using its App Store policies and promotional choices in ways that do not give a fair advantage to all AI apps. He said Apple also made it extremely difficult for other artificial intelligence companies, including his firm, xAI, to reach the top spot in the store’s rankings.
Apple Store’s “Must Have” section highlights selected apps to millions of iPhone users and can dramatically influence downloads and popularity, which is the main reason why Musk is criticizing the company. He claimed that Apple has refused to include X and Grok in this premium promotional space despite X being, in his words, the number one news app globally.
He also added that Grok, the chatbot of xAI, presently ranks as the fifth most popular app overall across all categories, meaning that the exclusion could be politically motivated and not based on factors like user demand or performance. Musk suggested that the company’s actions go beyond standard business choices and into territory that he believes violates antitrust principles by asking Apple directly if it was “playing politics” in deciding which apps to promote.
The timing of Musk’s comments is essential because they come during a period when he has been increasingly aggressive in challenging what he deems unfair or monopolistic practices in the AI industry. Musk has also challenged the influence, control, and partnerships of tech firms over the last few years. The Tesla billionaire filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, in the past.
Musk accused them of creating contracts that primarily benefited their financial interests and harming competition by setting strict limits on which investors could provide funding. He also called out OpenAI in the lawsuit for undermining its original mission by restructuring the company from a nonprofit research organization into a for-profit company.
Musk and his team detailed a long list of transactions and business decisions that showed clear conflicts of interest involving Altman in the legal filing. These included agreements with companies such as Rain AI, Humane, and Limitless, where Altman allegedly held financial stakes. The report also presented a deal involving Reddit that Musk claimed boosted the value of Altman’s shares by hundreds of millions of dollars.
He also added that actions did not prioritize the best interests of OpenAI, noting that Altman was steering the company towards arrangements that brought benefits. If the tech billionaire follows through on his warning, a lawsuit against Apple could quickly become one of the most closely watched cases in recent years.
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