Elon Musk threatens Apple with lawsuit over alleged App Store bias toward OpenAI

Musk accuses Apple of playing favourites in AI race

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has taken fresh aim at Apple, accusing the company of rigging its App Store rankings to give OpenAI’s ChatGPT an unfair advantage. Musk claims this is not just bad business, but an antitrust violation — and he’s ready to take the fight to court.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Musk said Apple’s ranking system “makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1” on the App Store. His AI startup xAI, which makes the Grok chatbot, currently sits at fifth in the US “Top Free Apps” list, far behind ChatGPT in first place. Google’s Gemini AI lags even further down the list at 57th.

Apple, OpenAI, and xAI have not responded to requests for comment, and Musk has yet to present evidence for his claims.

The Apple OpenAI connection

Fueling the controversy is Apple’s recent partnership with OpenAI, which integrated ChatGPT directly into iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This means that Apple now has a vested interest in promoting ChatGPT — a point Musk has repeatedly criticised.

In a separate post, he accused Apple of leaving both X and Grok out of its “Must Have” section despite X being “the #1 news app in the world” and Grok ranking in the top five overall. “Are you playing politics?” Musk asked.

Regulators already circling Apple

Musk’s comments land at a time when Apple is already under heavy fire from regulators. In April, a US judge found the company in violation of a court order intended to allow more competition in the App Store, referring the matter to federal prosecutors for possible criminal contempt. The case stems from a lawsuit by Fortnite maker Epic Games.

That same month, the European Union fined Apple €500 million, ruling that it had blocked app developers from directing users to cheaper deals outside the App Store — a breach of the bloc’s new Digital Markets Act.

Why this matters for AI,  and you

If Musk follows through, the legal battle could shape not just the AI industry but how app marketplaces operate worldwide. With AI tools becoming central to everything from work to entertainment, the gatekeepers of app distribution — like Apple — hold unprecedented influence over what tools people actually use.

South African tech watchers have already taken to social media, some siding with Musk’s call for “fair play” in the app economy, while others accuse him of sour grapes. One local developer quipped on X, “If you want to be #1, build something people can’t stop using. The algorithm will follow.”

Whether this is a case of bias or business as usual, Musk’s move could ignite a broader conversation about how much power Apple wields — and whether regulators should step in before the AI race is decided by corporate partnerships rather than innovation.

Source:Tech Central 

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