SAN FRANCISCO – Elon Musk has declared his artificial intelligence company, xAI, “will take immediate legal action” against Apple, accusing the tech giant of manipulating its App Store rankings to unfairly benefit rival AI applications.
In a series of posts on his social media platform X late Monday, Musk claimed Apple was “playing politics” by excluding X and his Grok AI chatbot from prominent placement in the App Store’s recommended lists. He framed the issue as a significant antitrust concern.
“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation,” Musk stated. He directly questioned Apple in another post, which he pinned to his profile: “Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?”
Musk has not yet provided evidence to support his allegations, and it remains unclear if a lawsuit has been officially filed.
In response, an Apple spokesperson, in a statement reported by Bloomberg, defended the App Store’s integrity. The statement noted that the platform is “designed to be fair and free of bias” and that app features are determined by “charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria.”
Data from the App Store presents a more complex picture than Musk’s claims suggest. While OpenAI’s ChatGPT currently holds the top spot for free iPhone apps in the US, Musk’s Grok is ranked a strong sixth. Furthermore, Musk’s assertion that it is “impossible” for other AI apps to reach the top position was contradicted earlier this year when China’s DeepSeek AI briefly surpassed ChatGPT in January.
The accusations of platform manipulation come with a layer of irony, as Musk himself has faced similar allegations regarding X. A 2024 research study and a 2023 report from Platformer suggested that X’s algorithm was altered to amplify Musk’s own posts. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to reference this history by responding to Musk’s posts with a link to the 2023 report.
This confrontation is the latest chapter in Musk’s long and contentious history with both Apple and OpenAI. A co-founder of OpenAI, Musk has since become one of its fiercest critics, previously suing the company over its shift to a for-profit model. Last year, he threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies following the announcement of a partnership to integrate ChatGPT technology into Apple’s operating systems.
