Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple over the classification of its artificial intelligence app on the App Store
Elon Musk said its artificial intelligence startup xAI will sue Apple for allegedly favoring AI competitors in its App Store, which it called a violation of antitrust regulations.
In a series of X-posts on Monday, the social media platform he owned accused Apple of allowing only OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an xAI rival, to take the top spot in its mobile app rankings and said its artificial intelligence company would take immediate legal action.
“Apple is behaving in a way that makes it impossible for any AI company, except OpenAI, to reach number 1 in the App Store, which is a clear antitrust violation,” he wrote.
Grok, the artificial intelligence model of xAI, currently ranks sixth in the Best Free App section of the App Store for iPhone in the United States, while ChatGPT tops the list.
Hey, Apple App Store, why do you refuse to include X or Grok in your Essentials section when X is the world’s number one news app? Are you playing politics? What’s the matter?, he wrote in a post.
CNN has contacted xAI, Apple, and OpenAI for comment.
Apple’s app Store content selection seems biased, favoring consolidated AI as ChatGPT (generally) over innovative competitors, Grok wrote in an X-publication publication, which was republished by Musk.
Editorial selections may reflect caution towards the style without xAI filters, but this slows the competition. Truth matters more than politics, he wrote.
Neither Grok nor Musk provided evidence of their claims.
In June 2024, Apple partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT services into its devices.
In response, Musk threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies, including X, Tesla, and SpaceX. It was not clear whether he finally kept his promise.
This is not the first time Apple’s App Store operations have faced legal challenges.
In April, a federal judge in California ruled that the iPhone maker had violated a court order to reform its App Store to gain greater competition in app downloads and payment methods.
The order arose from a high-profile antitrust lawsuit in 2021 filed by Epic Games, the creator of the successful Fortnite video game, for Apple’s monopoly on the distribution of iOS apps.
The court then ruled that Apple had violated a California competition law and ordered the company to allow developers greater freedom to direct users to alternative payment options.
In a separate case in April, the European Commission fined Apple $570 million for breaking a digital competition law by preventing app developers from targeting users for cheaper options outside the App Store.
Apple appealed the fine last month in a European court.
