Elon Musk threatens Apple with legal motion, – Business News
Elon Musk threatened Apple with a lawsuit – and launched a testy back-and-forth on X with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as he accused the App Store of violating antitrust legal guidelines by unfairly favoring ChatGPT over Musk’s Grok chatbot.
“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X Monday.
He added that X and his Grok AI chatbot are excluded from the App Store’s “Must Have” listing when the apps rank as #1 in information and #5 general, respectively – asking if Apple is “playing politics.”
Elon Musk threatened Apple with legal motion as he accused its App Store of antitrust violations. Getty Images
Apple didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
In response to Musk’s accusations, Altman wrote in a post: “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
The struggle of phrases rapidly devolved into mudslinging over follower counts.
“You got 3M views on your bulls— post, you liar, far more than I’ve received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!” Musk wrote late on Monday.
Altman mentioned a “skill issue” or “bots” had been guilty for Musk receiving fewer views on some of his posts.
“Will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies?” Altman pressed, including that he would “apologize if so.”
This is a exceptional declare given what I’ve heard alleged that Elon does to control X to benefit himself and his own corporations and hurt his rivals and people he would not like. https://t.co/HlgzO4c2iC— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025
Musk posted about an hour later: “Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes.”
Last 12 months, Apple partnered with OpenAI to combine ChatGPT into its iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop computer and desktop merchandise.
At the time, Musk warned that “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.”
It’s simply the most recent in a yearslong feud between Musk and OpenAI, which the billionaire parted methods with in 2018 after co-founding the AI firm in 2015.
Elon Musk questioned why X and his Grok AI chatbot are excluded from the App Store’s “Must Have” listing. Apple
In February 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit towards OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of betraying the firm’s nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft.
He withdrew the go well with in June however refiled it two months later.
Prior to the verbal sparring session, Musk had cheered Grok’s efficiency on the App Store – rising previous Google because the fifth prime free app.
OpenAI chief Sam Altman pressed Elon Musk to signal an affidavit within the pair’s newest verbal spat. AP
xAI launched its newest chatbot model, Grok 4, final month, whereas OpenAI unveiled GPT-5 on Thursday.
Musk’s legal threats come quickly after Robert Keele, who led the legal division at xAI, introduced he left the company to spend time with his household – although he added there was “daylight between our worldviews” with Musk.
OpenAI and xAI didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s requests for remark.
Apple is at present going through a landmark lawsuit from the Department of Justice that alleges the company maintains an unlawful monopoly over smartphones.
And in June, Apple misplaced a plea to halt adjustments to its App Store from a ruling that the company may no longer charge a commission on cost hyperlinks inside its apps.
