By Elon Musk has publicly accused Apple of App Store antitrust violations, claiming its App Store unfairly favors OpenAI’s ChatGPT, thereby blocking fair competition from rivals such as his own AI venture, xAI.
Accusation of Bias: Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that
“Apple is behaving in a way that eliminates the possibility for any AI company aside from OpenAI to be #1 in the App Store”, and claimed it was an “unambiguous App Store antitrust violation.”
He said that xAI will take immediate legal action.
He also criticized Apple for not including the apps, X and Grok, in its “Must Have” section, even though X is the “#1 news app in the world” and Grok was fifth overall.
No Official Comment Yet: Apple, xAI, and OpenAI have yet to comment on Musk’s accusations.
Altman Fires Back: OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman fought back too, labeling Musk a hypocrite and pointing out Musk’s prior allegations of manipulating the algorithm of X for Musk’s companies.
This raises larger questions about Apple’s App Store practices, which are already being looked into by regulators—most recently with a €500 million fine in the EU earlier this year.
The tussle illustrates the growing competition amongst AI developers—including the growing gatekeeping aspect of platforms that is increasingly impacting the visibility and reach.
Elon Musk has made serious antitrust charges against Apple, claiming it put OpenAI on the App Store. He sounds like he wants to sue the company, but in the absence of any response from Apple and the wider policy context, it looks like this could turn into a major regulatory battle.
[…] Musk’s xAI sues Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of colluding to suppress competition in the AI […]