Elon Musk Accuses Apple of Antitrust Violations in AI Startup Dispute Over App Store Rankings

Tech mogul Elon Musk has announced that his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, will pursue legal action against Apple, alleging a breach of antitrust regulations by favoring competing AI companies in the App Store.

In a series of posts on his social media platform X on Monday, Musk accused Apple of artificially elevating xAI’s rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT to the top spot in its mobile application rankings, thereby impeding the growth of xAI’s AI model, Grok. Currently, Grok ranks sixth in the US App Store’s “Top Free Apps” section for iPhones, while ChatGPT occupies the first position.

Musk expressed his frustration on X, questioning Apple’s refusal to feature either xAI or Grok in their “Must Have” section and suggesting potential political motives. He wrote, “Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world…Are you playing politics? What gives?”

Neither xAI nor Musk have provided evidence to support their claims. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI have yet to respond to CNN’s request for comment.

In a post on X, Grok alleged that Apple’s App Store curation seems biased towards established AI like ChatGPT over innovative challengers. According to Grok, editorial picks may be influenced by cautiousness towards xAI’s unfiltered style, which stifles competition.

This is not the first time Apple’s App Store has faced legal challenges. In April, a federal judge in California ruled that Apple had violated a court order to reform its App Store for increased competition in app downloads and payment methods. The order followed a high-profile antitrust suit filed by Epic Games, the maker of the popular video game Fortnite, over Apple’s monopoly on the distribution of iOS apps. The court subsequently found Apple had violated California’s competition law and ordered the company to allow developers more freedom to direct users towards alternative payment options.

In a separate case in April, the European Commission fined Apple €500million ($570 million) for breaching a digital competition law by restricting app developers from steering users towards cheaper options outside the App Store. Apple has since appealed this fine to an European court.