Elon Musk has accused Apple of unfairly favouring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in App Store rankings and says his AI company, xAI, will sue immediately.
In a series of posts on X, Musk alleged that Apple’s approach to curating and promoting apps leaves no realistic path for AI competitors to surpass OpenAI in visibility.
“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. xAI will take immediate legal action,” he wrote.
Musk’s anger goes beyond rankings. He criticised Apple for leaving his apps, Grok and X, out of the “Must Have” section despite their strong performance. “Hey @Apple App Store, 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? Are you playing politics?” he asked.
Apple has yet to respond to the accusations, and Elon Musk has not provided evidence to substantiate his claims. According to Sensor Tower, ChatGPT currently leads the “Top Free Apps” list in the U.S., Grok is in fifth place, and Google’s Gemini is 57th.
The issue comes against the backdrop of Apple’s ties with OpenAI. The two companies entered a partnership in June 2024 that embeds ChatGPT directly into iPhones, iPads, and Macs through Siri and system-wide tools.
With iOS 26, Apple plans to introduce “Apple Intelligence,” which will integrate GPT-5 into core functions like Siri, Image Playground, and writing assistance, a move that raises ChatGPT’s visibility.
Regulators have already been pointing to Apple’s control over its App Store as bias. Earlier this year, a U.S. judge ruled that the company breached a court injunction arising from its issue with Fortnite creator Epic Games, and referred the matter for possible criminal contempt proceedings.
In Europe, the EU fined Apple €500 million for restricting app developers from directing users to cheaper deals outside the App Store, a violation of the Digital Markets Act. In the United States, the Department of Justice has an ongoing case accusing Apple of monopolising the iPhone ecosystem.
Musk has yet to file a formal lawsuit, but his public statements show he is preparing for a high-profile challenge in court.
