Is Apple playing unfair in the App Store? Elon Musk thinks so, and he’s gearing up for a legal battle.
The race between AI apps is no longer just about who builds the smartest chatbot-it’s about who wins the battle for your phone, your attention, and your wallet.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Musk’s own xAI with its Grok app are all duking it out on the App Store. Currently, ChatGPT tops Apple’s “Top Free iPhone Apps” chart in the US, while Grok lingers at sixth place. But Musk isn’t happy. He accuses Apple of rigging the rankings to favor competitors and exclude his apps from prominent recommendation spots.
Through a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk charged Apple with “playing politics,” leaving both the X app and Grok out of the App Store’s “Must Have” section despite their popularity. He insists a lawsuit is imminent over what he calls an antitrust violation.
However, Musk hasn’t provided concrete evidence yet, and it’s unclear if the legal action has officially started or if it’s another episode of public sparring.
Apple, which has faced antitrust investigations before, primarily around payment policies and developer communications, now faces fresh questions about how it ranks apps-something that hasn’t been under such scrutiny until now.
The plot thickens with irony: Musk himself has been accused of manipulating X’s algorithm to boost his own posts since acquiring the platform in 2022. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, fired back at Musk’s claims by highlighting reports suggesting Musk set up systems to ensure his tweets got maximum exposure.
Adding to the drama, Musk’s chatbot Grok was previously caught echoing his personal views on sensitive topics, raising eyebrows about its impartiality.
Musk’s history with Apple and OpenAI is no less turbulent. Once a co-founder of OpenAI, he later became a vocal critic, filing lawsuits and even offering a massive $97.4 billion buyout, which OpenAI rejected. Tensions escalated further when Apple teamed up with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, prompting Musk to threaten banning Apple devices from his companies if OpenAI’s tech got deeply embedded into Apple’s OS.
In the end, the battle over App Store rankings, lawsuits, and old rivalries has turned the AI race into a messy showdown with high stakes for everyone involved.