Two Elon Musk-backed companies, X and xAI, have filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI in the US, accusing them of illegally collaborating to stifle competition in the AI chatbot market.
The suit challenges Apple’s decision to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its operating systems under an exclusive arrangement, which Musk’s firms say violates competition law. They argue the deal unfairly boosts OpenAI in the App Store and gives it access to millions of Apple customers’ data, making it harder for rivals to compete.
The filing follows Musk’s earlier warnings that Apple was favouring OpenAI in its app store rankings. OpenAI dismissed the claims as part of Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment,” while Apple has yet to comment.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015 but has since become a fierce critic, accusing Altman of steering the company away from its original mission. The rivalry deepened after Musk launched xAI and its chatbot, Grok, as competitors.
The lawsuit claims the Apple-OpenAI deal has “foreclosed competition, deprived rivals of scale, and reduced quality and innovation.” OpenAI currently dominates about 80% of the US chatbot market, while Apple controls roughly 65% of the smartphone market.
Apple’s app store practices have long faced legal scrutiny, including a high-profile antitrust case against Google. The company insists its policies are “fair and free of bias.”
Despite the partnership, Apple has also reportedly explored using Google’s Gemini chatbot to enhance its Siri voice assistant, highlighting the growing battles over dominance in the AI space.
