Elon Musk’s xAI and X sue Apple and OpenAI in Texas court over AI competition and ranking

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI and his social media company X sued Apple and OpenAI in a U.S. federal court in Texas on Monday. They accused Apple and OpenAI of working together illegally to block competition in artificial intelligence, as per reports.

The lawsuit says Apple and OpenAI “locked up markets” to keep their monopolies and stop new companies like xAI from growing. The complaint adds that Apple and OpenAI worked to hold back xAI’s products, like the X app and Grok chatbot, on the Apple App Store. It says Apple would have promoted them more if not for its special deal with OpenAI, as stated by Reuters.

Apple and OpenAI antitrust lawsuit

Apple and OpenAI have not given any comments yet on the lawsuit. Musk had already warned earlier this month that he would sue Apple. On X, he posted that Apple’s behavior made it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.” Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that puts ChatGPT inside iPhones, iPads, and Macs,as per reports.

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The lawsuit also says Apple ranks against “super apps” and AI chatbots like Grok, while giving OpenAI an advantage by integrating ChatGPT. The court filing says unless judges stop Apple and OpenAI’s actions, competition will keep being blocked and rivals like xAI will keep getting hurt, as mentioned in the report by CNBC.

Musk vs Altman AI rivalry

Musk’s company xAI bought X in March for $33 billion. He wanted to use it to improve training for AI chatbots. Musk has also connected his Grok chatbot to Tesla cars. xAI is less than two years old and competes with OpenAI, Microsoft-backed AI projects, and Chinese startup DeepSeek. Musk is also running another lawsuit in California against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. He wants to stop OpenAI from turning from nonprofit to for-profit. Musk and Altman had co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, as per Reuters.

Apple’s App Store has faced lawsuits before. In the “Fortnite” game maker Epic Games case, a judge ruled Apple must allow more competition in app payments. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman replied to Musk on X, calling Musk’s claim “remarkable.” He said Musk himself manipulates X to help his own companies and hurt rivals. An Apple spokesperson earlier said the App Store is “fair and free of bias” and already shows thousands of apps using many signals, as per the report by CNBC.

Some users on X Community Notes pointed out that other chatbot apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity actually ranked No. 1 in the App Store, even after Apple and OpenAI announced their deal. This lawsuit adds another chapter in the ongoing battle between Musk and Altman, two former allies who now clash over AI.

FAQs

Q1. Why did Elon Musk’s xAI sue Apple and OpenAI?
Elon Musk’s xAI sued Apple and OpenAI in a Texas court, claiming they worked together to block rivals and keep control of the AI market.

Q2. What does the lawsuit say about Apple’s App Store?
The lawsuit says Apple gave OpenAI an unfair advantage by integrating ChatGPT while holding back xAI apps like Grok in the App Store.