Elon Musk is threatening to take Apple to court, accusing the tech giant of unfairly rigging its App Store rankings to favor OpenAI’s ChatGPT over his own AI chatbot, Grok. In a series of posts on his social media platform X, Musk claimed that Apple is making it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1,” which he called an “unequivocal antitrust violation.”
Musk’s frustration stems from Grok’s ranking in the App Store. While he recently celebrated his chatbot hitting the number five spot among all free apps, he’s angry that Apple isn’t featuring it more prominently. “Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section?” he asked in one post, questioning if Apple was “playing politics.”
The legal threat highlights Musk’s ongoing feud with both Apple and OpenAI. Last year, when Apple announced a partnership to integrate ChatGPT into its devices, Musk threatened to ban all Apple products from his companies, calling the move an “unacceptable security violation.” He is also currently suing OpenAI, a company he co-founded, claiming it has abandoned its original mission.
This isn’t the first time Apple has faced these kinds of accusations. The company is already dealing with a major antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, which alleges it runs an iPhone monopoly. Musk’s new threat adds another powerful voice to the growing chorus of critics who say Apple is abusing its control over the App Store.
