Recently, Elon Musk took legal action against Apple and Sam Altman’s OpenAI, alleging that the two companies are unlawfully collaborating to stifle competition for his companies, Zai and others in the AI sector.
This antitrust lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court, follows Musk’s public threats to sue Apple for not allowing features from X-App or Grok, an AI chatbot from Xai, to rank well within its app listings.
The lawsuit claims, “Apple and OpenAI, working together, have maintained a monopoly, locking out competitors like X and Xai from the market.”
Musk’s attorney explained that the purpose of the lawsuit is to prevent such anti-competitive actions and to seek damages in the billions.
The filing also highlighted that Apple had established an arrangement with OpenAI last year, integrating ChatGPT with iPhones. Musk argues this partnership restricts user access to competing chatbots since the companies dominate the smartphone and AI markets.
According to the lawsuit, “Smartphone consumers struggle to switch to more affordable options and miss out on AI chatbots and super apps that could offer similar or better features than the iPhone.”
He further remarked, “There’s no real harm to Apple; consumers could save on smartphone expenses and still receive quality service.”
A spokesperson for OpenAI responded, calling Musk’s latest move part of a continued pattern of harassment. They sent this statement in a typical fashion, emphasizing the ongoing nature of the situation.
Representatives from Xai and Apple have yet to respond to requests for comments.
In the past month, Musk suggested that Apple had been suppressing apps at OpenAI’s request. He’s also pursued separate lawsuits, claiming that OpenAI has moved away from its original charitable mission while shifting to a profit-focused model.
On August 12, Musk expressed his frustrations in a post: “Hey @Apple App Store, if X is the #1 news app globally and Grok ranks 5th, why won’t you list either in the ‘required’ section? Are you playing politics?”
In another message, he asserted that Apple’s behavior inhibits non-OpenAI AI companies from achieving top rankings on the App Store.
