Musk Accuses Apple Of “Unequivocal Antitrust Violation” For Favoring OpenAI In App Store Rankings

Elon Musk threatened Apple with “immediate legal action” over what he claims is the Big Tech firm, led by Tim Cook, giving preferential treatment to OpenAI in its App Store popularity rankings. 

“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,” Musk wrote on X, adding, “xAI will take immediate legal action.” 

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.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2025

“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 and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?” Musk wrote in a separate post.

Hey @Apple App Store, 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 and Grok is #5 among all apps?

Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know. https://t.co/3wenLZGtwG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025

Anti-trust behavior by Apple! https://t.co/MwEuWwkQPW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2025

Currently, xAI’s Grok artificial intelligence bot sits No. 6 in the App Store, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT holding the No. 1 spot. Sensor Tower data shows ChatGPT ranks at the top on the Google Play Store. 

The remarks come amid Apple’s AI partnership with OpenAI and Musk’s long-standing feud with CEO Sam Altman, dating back to their split as OpenAI co-founders.

In April, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland found that Apple violated a court order mandating competition in its App Store, and referred the company to federal prosecutors for a criminal probe. The antitrust lawsuit was first filed by Epic Games.

And the feud continues…

it was getting boring out there https://t.co/0OYcC69YTP

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 12, 2025

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