The simmering rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has boiled over into a public confrontation, with Musk now targeting Apple with a lawsuit threat. Musk, on behalf of his AI startup xAI, claims that Apple is committing an “unequivocal antitrust violation” by favoring OpenAI in its App Store rankings. He pointed to his Grok app’s number five position while OpenAI’s ChatGPT sits at number one, questioning the fairness of the ranking system. This public spat on X marks another contentious chapter in their history.
The feud between the two tech moguls dates back to their time as co-founders of OpenAI. Musk left the company in 2018 after his proposal to take it over was rejected. He has since sued the company twice, alleging it betrayed its founding mission. Altman has consistently portrayed Musk as a jealous and bitter ex-partner, a sentiment that seems to be fueling their current exchange. Altman challenged Musk to sign an affidavit that he has never manipulated X’s algorithm, a move that highlights the hypocrisy Altman sees in Musk’s claims.
Despite Musk’s accusations, evidence suggests his claims about the App Store may be unfounded. Community notes on X highlight that other AI apps, including DeepSeek and Perplexity, have reached the number one position on the App Store in various regions this year, post-OpenAI’s partnership with Apple. This evidence undermines Musk’s assertion that the top spot is exclusively reserved for OpenAI. Even Grok, xAI’s own AI, sided with Altman when asked about the dispute, stating that Altman was “right.”
This confrontation with Apple places further pressure on the tech giant, which is already under fire from regulators worldwide. The EU has fined Apple for anti-steering policies, and the US Department of Justice has filed a massive antitrust lawsuit, accusing the company of maintaining an illegal smartphone monopoly. Musk’s threat, whether or not it leads to a lawsuit, adds to the growing chorus of criticism against Apple’s App Store dominance.
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