OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:35 AM – Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Elon Musk accused Apple of unfairly favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT app over his Grok AI chatbot — even going as far as to threaten legal action through his AI startup xAI.
On Monday, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley announced on X that the platform appeared on the Apple App Store at the number one spot on the free news apps ranking. Musk reposted this announcement with the following message:
“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?” Musk inquired. “Are you playing politics? What gives?”
Advertisement“And why is ChatGPT literally in every list where you have editorial control?” he commented on the same post.
Soon after, a spokesperson for Apple told The New York Post: “the App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias.”
Last summer, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, OpenAI and Apple revealed that they would be partnering to integrate ChatGPT’s intelligence into Apple products.
OpenAI’s news release also noted that ChatGPT would be implemented to allow users to access ChatGPT’s capabilities within iOS, macOS, and Siri “without needing to jump between tools.”
At the time, Musk warned on X that “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.”
However, OpenAI further stated in their announcement that “privacy protections are built in when accessing ChatGPT within Siri and Writing Tools—requests are not stored by OpenAI, and users’ IP addresses are obscured.”
Musk’s latest allegations—asserting collusion between Apple and OpenAI—have reopened old wounds, sharply intensifying his already acrimonious public feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
On Monday on X, the xAI owner wrote: “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.”
Nonetheless, Altman shot back soon after, saying: “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
Then, on Tuesday, the somewhat tame disagreement turned into a full on dispute — mostly over follower counts and views.
“You got 3M views on your bullshit post, you liar, far more than I’ve received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!” Musk wrote.
Altman’s initial reply was a curt “skill issue.” Two minutes later, however, he followed up with a pointed question: “Will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies?” Altman noted that he would “apologize, if so.”
Although Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited the White House — shaking hands with President Trump after unveiling a $600 billion U.S. investment — the company remains embroiled in a Department of Justice lawsuit, filed in March 2024, alleging it has monopolized the smartphone market.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated in a press release: “We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law. If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly. The Justice Department will vigorously enforce antitrust laws that protect consumers from higher prices and fewer choices.”
The antitrust lawsuit is proceeding after a judge rejected an attempt from Apple to dismiss the case.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!Sponsored Content Below