Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over AI Competition, App Store Rankings

Texas: Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in Texas against tech giant Apple and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The lawsuit accuses the two companies of illegally conspiring to stifle competition within the artificial intelligence market. 

The core allegation from xAI is that Apple and OpenAI have strategically partnered to create a closed ecosystem that disadvantages rivals. The lawsuit states that the companies have "locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing."

This legal challenge follows Apple's recent announcement of a partnership with OpenAI to deeply integrate its ChatGPT technology into the operating systems for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. xAI contends that this "exclusive deal" creates an unfair competition.

“If not for its exclusive deal with OpenAI, Apple would have no reason to refrain from more prominently featuring the X app and the Grok app in its App Store," the lawsuit said. xAI is reportedly seeking billions of dollars in alleged damages resulting from this anti-competitive behavior.

In response to the suit, an OpenAI spokesperson issued a sharp rebuke, stating, “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment." Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment.

This lawsuit is the latest escalation in an ongoing feud between Elon Musk and his former OpenAI collaborators. Earlier this month, Musk threatened legal action against Apple, claiming on his social media platform X that the integration “makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.”

Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit in 2015, is already separately suing the company and its CEO, Sam Altman, in California to challenge its shift to a for-profit model. His commercial interests in AI have grown significantly; xAI, launched less than two years ago, competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and others. The company acquired the social media platform X for $33 billion in March to aid in training its Grok chatbot, which is also being integrated into Tesla vehicles.

The case also draws renewed attention to Apple's App Store practices, which have been the focus of numerous legal challenges, including an ongoing lawsuit by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games that has already forced Apple to allow more competition for in-app payment systems.

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