Elon Musk Escalates Feud with Apple, Threatens Lawsuit Over App Store Bias Toward ChatGPT

Elon Musk Escalates Feud with Apple, Threatens Lawsuit Over App Store Bias Toward ChatGPT

Should Musk follow through with litigation, it could exacerbate Apple’s ongoing legal battles related to its App Store operations.

RMN Digital News Report
August 12, 2025

In a bold move, Elon Musk has intensified his ongoing disputes with Apple, alleging that the tech behemoth is committing clear antitrust violations by giving preferential treatment to OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its App Store. On August 12, Musk took to his platform X (formerly Twitter) to declare that Apple’s policies effectively block any AI competitor, aside from OpenAI, from claiming the top spot in the App Store rankings.

The xAI and Tesla chief executive has pledged swift legal action against Apple, adding to the company’s mounting international scrutiny over purportedly anticompetitive App Store practices.

The controversy arises from Apple’s recent collaboration with OpenAI, which includes embedding ChatGPT functionalities into iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This integration is set to enhance Siri’s capabilities in the upcoming iOS 26. Musk has voiced frustration over Apple’s exclusion of his own apps—X and Grok—from the prominent “Must-Have Apps” category, questioning in a tweet whether the company is engaging in political favoritism.

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Musk emphasized that X holds the position as the world’s leading news app, while Grok sits at fifth place overall. In contrast, ChatGPT dominates as the number one free chat app for iPhones in the United States and enjoys a spot in Apple’s curated “Must-Have Apps” section. According to data from Sensor Tower, as reported by Reuters, Grok lags far behind ChatGPT in the U.S. iPhone chat app rankings.

As of now, Musk has not presented concrete evidence to back his assertions, and neither Apple nor OpenAI has issued a response. Should Musk follow through with litigation, it could exacerbate Apple’s ongoing legal battles related to its App Store operations.

This development follows earlier tensions, including OpenAI’s April lawsuit against Musk—its former co-founder who left years ago—accusing him of persistent attempts to sabotage the company for personal benefit. OpenAI described Musk’s actions as “bad-faith tactics” aimed at dominating advanced AI technology, marking a heightened clash between key players in the AI and tech sectors.