Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI

xAI sues Apple and OpenAI for alleged anti-competitive practices.

Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of an “anti-competitive scheme.” The lawsuit alleges they conspired to maintain monopolies in the smartphone and generative AI markets, according to the document.

The suit claims that Apple deliberately demotes so-called “super apps” and competing AI-based chatbots in the App Store, prioritizing OpenAI due to the integration of ChatGPT into its products.

“Apple acts in a way that no AI company, except OpenAI, can reach the top of the App Store. This is an unequivocal violation of antitrust laws. xAI will take immediate legal action,” Musk stated earlier in August.

Sam Altman noted at the time that he had heard of the entrepreneur’s manipulations on X to advance his interests and those of his companies at the expense of competitors and people he dislikes.

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. https://t.co/HlgzO4c2iC

— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025

Some users noted that DeepSeek and Perplexity products topped the App Store following the announcement of the Apple and OpenAI partnership.

“In a desperate attempt to protect its smartphone market monopoly, Apple has teamed up with the company that benefits most from stifling competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, the monopolist in the generative chatbot market,” the accusation states.

The lawsuit marks another chapter in the contentious relationship between Musk and Sam Altman. They, along with others, founded OpenAI, but the Tesla CEO departed in 2018 over disagreements about the firm’s direction and subsequently founded his own AI startup, xAI.

In August 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of breaching the company’s founding agreement by allegedly prioritizing commercial interests over public good.

In December, the entrepreneur urged a federal court to halt the transformation of ChatGPT’s developer into a fully commercial business.

Back in August 2025, the Ethereum-based gaming network XAI accused xAI of trademark infringement and unfair competition.