Elon Musk has announced plans to take legal action against Apple, alleging that the company is engaging in antitrust practices concerning AI app rankings in the App Store. Musk claims that Apple’s system favors OpenAI’s ChatGPT, disadvantaging other platforms, including his own AI project, Grok from xAI, and his social media network, X, from reaching top positions.
If you’ve been online recently, you’re probably familiar with ChatGPT, Grok, or both. Musk established his AI enterprise in March 2023, introducing Grok—based on a large language model— to users of X in November of the same year.
The latest and most advanced iteration, Grok 4, was launched in July. The bot gained attention for its medical advice and its provocative content, which seems to have been modified in the newest update.
Musk is dissatisfied with his exclusion from Apple’s AI ranking, with ChatGPT consistently ranking above Grok in the App Store. Musk expressed his concerns on X, formerly Twitter, which he acquired for $44 billion in 2022, stating: “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.”
In a subsequent post, Musk questioned: “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? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.”
He further added: “And why is ChatGPT literally in every list where you have editorial control?”
Musk has yet to provide evidence for his accusations. However, users on X noted additional context in his initial tweet, highlighting that AI apps like Deepseek and Perplexity have surpassed ChatGPT on the App Store.
They also mentioned, according to CNN, that this occurred after Apple collaborated with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into their products in 2024.
Currently, ChatGPT is ranked as Apple’s top free iPhone app, while Grok stands at sixth place, trailing behind TeaOnHer Dating Advice, Tea Dating Advice, Meta’s Threads, and the school app ParentSquare.
Sam Altman has responded to Musk’s claims on X, stating: “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 and people he doesn’t like.”
Altman also referenced a Platformer article alleging that Musk ‘created a special system’ to prioritize his tweets for X users.
In a follow-up tweet, Altman stated: “I hope someone will get counter-discovery on this, I and many others would love to know what’s been happening. But OpenAI will just stay focused on making great products.”
UNILAD has reached out to Apple, xAI, and OpenAI for comments.