Billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has filed a lawsuit in Texas federal court against Apple and OpenAI. The company says the tech giants are working together to block competition in the AI industry.
According to the lawsuit, Apple and OpenAI have “locked up markets” to keep their monopolies and stop new AI companies like xAI from competing.
Apple has integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs. xAI claims that without this exclusive deal, Apple would have no reason to limit the visibility of xAI’s Grok app or the X app in its App Store.
xAI is seeking billions of dollars in damages. Musk highlighted the issue on his social media platform X, saying, “A million reviews with 4.9 average for @Grok and still Apple refuses to mention Grok on any lists.”
He had previously warned that Apple’s App Store rules make it almost impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach the top App Store rankings.
OpenAI described the lawsuit as part of “Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” while Apple has not yet commented publicly.
Launched less than two years ago, xAI competes with OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, and Chinese startup DeepSeek. In March, the company bought X for $33 billion to improve chatbot training and has integrated the Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles.
ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app after its 2022 launch. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit with Sam Altman. He is now suing OpenAI and Altman in California federal court over its shift from nonprofit to for-profit status.
Apple’s App Store practices have faced legal scrutiny before, including a case from Fortnite maker Epic Games, where a judge ordered Apple to allow more competition for app payment methods.
Musk’s xAI lawsuit is part of his ongoing fight against what he sees as anti-competitive behavior in the AI market.
