By Mike Scarcella
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI sued Apple and ChatGPT maker OpenAI in US federal court in Texas, accusing them of illegally conspiring to thwart competition for artificial intelligence.
Apple and OpenAI have “locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing,” the lawsuit said.
Elon Musk is suing Apple and OpenAI.Credit: Getty
The 61-page complaint filed in Texas federal court follows through on a threat that Musk made two weeks ago when he accused Apple of unfairly favouring OpenAI and ChatGPT in the iPhone’s app store rankings for top AI apps.
Musk’s post insinuated that Apple had rigged the system against ChatGPT competitors such as the Grok chatbot made by his own xAI. Now, he is detailing a litany of grievances in the lawsuit — filed by xAI and another of his corporate entities, X — in an attempt to win monetary damages and a court order prohibiting the alleged illegal tactics.
In the lawsuit, xAI said it is seeking billions of dollars in alleged damages.
The doublebarrelled legal attack weaves together several recently unfolding narratives to recast a year-old partnership between Apple and OpenAI as a veiled conspiracy to stifle competition during a technological shift that could prove as revolutionary as the 2007 release of the iPhone.
“This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence,” the lawsuit asserts.
Apple and OpenAI — whose ChatGPT service is the most-downloaded free iPhone app in the US — have a partnership around AI built into the latest iPhones. Musk, 54, has a long-running feud with OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman, which dates back to disagreements that led to their split after the two founded OpenAI together a decade ago.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer application in history in the months following its launch in late 2022. Musk’s xAI acquired X in March for $US33 billion ($50.9 billion) to enhance its chatbot training capabilities. Musk has also integrated the Grok chatbot into vehicles made by his electric automobile company Tesla. xAI was launched less than two years ago and competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI as well as with Chinese startup DeepSeek.
The complaint portrays Apple as a company that views AI as an “existential threat” to its future success, prompting it to collude with OpenAI in an attempt to protect the iPhone franchise that has long been its biggest moneymaker.
Some of the allegations accusing Apple of trying to shield the iPhone from do-everything “super apps,” such as the one Musk has long been trying to create with X, echo an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple last year by the US Department of Justice.
The doublebarrelled legal attack weaves together several recently unfolding narratives to recast a year-old partnership between Apple and OpenAI as a veiled conspiracy to stifle competition in AI.Credit: Bloomberg
OpenAI has countered with a lawsuit against Musk accusing him of harassment — an allegation that the company cited in its response to Monday’s antitrust lawsuit. “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The crux of the lawsuit revolves around Apple’s decision to use ChatGPT as an AI-powered “answer engine” on the iPhone when the built-in technology on its device couldn’t satisfy user needs. The partnership announced last year was part of Apple’s late entry into the AI race that was supposed to be powered mostly by its own on-device technology, but the company still hasn’t been able to deliver on all its promises.
Apple’s own AI shortcomings may be helping drive more usage of ChatGPT on the iPhone, providing OpenAI with invaluable data that’s unavailable to Grok and other would-be competitors because it’s currently an exclusive partnership.
The alliance has provided Apple with an incentive to improperly elevate ChatGPT in the AI rankings of the iPhone’s app store, the lawsuit alleges. Other AI apps from DeepSeek and Perplexity have periodically reached the top spot in the Apple app store’s AI rankings in at least some parts of the world since Apple announced its deal with ChatGPT.
The lawsuit doesn’t mention the potential threat that ChatGPT could also pose to Apple and the iPhone’s future popularity. As part of its expansion efforts, OpenAI recruited former Apple designer Jony Ive to oversee a project aimed at building an AI-powered device that many analysts believe could eventually mount a challenge to the iPhone.
Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
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