Elon Musk accuses Apple of antitrust violation over ChatGPT App Store ranking
Published: 13 August 2025, 2:42:20
Elon Musk has reignited his feud with OpenAI, this time turning his criticism toward Apple, accusing the tech giant of favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the App Store rankings and threatening legal action on behalf of his AI startup, xAI.
“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,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, offering no evidence to support his claim. He added, “xAI will take immediate legal action.”
However, X users were quick to point out that other AI apps such as DeepSeek AI and Perplexity AI have previously topped App Store charts — DeepSeek in early 2025, and Perplexity AI recently in India. Both are considered competitors to OpenAI and Musk’s xAI.
As of Tuesday, OpenAI’s ChatGPT held the top spot among free iPhone apps, with xAI’s Grok ranking fifth. Apple has not responded publicly to the allegations. App Store rankings are typically influenced by factors like download volume, user engagement, and app reviews.
Musk’s comments come in the wake of a broader rivalry with OpenAI, the company he co-founded in 2015 but later distanced himself from. After the explosive success of ChatGPT in late 2022, Musk launched xAI in 2023 to build what he called a “maximum truth-seeking AI” and directly challenge OpenAI’s dominance.
Tensions between Musk and OpenAI escalated further earlier this year when OpenAI filed counterclaims in court, accusing Musk of launching a “relentless campaign” to damage the company after it succeeded without him. The legal battle, playing out in California, paints Musk as trying to undermine OpenAI while building his own competing platform.
The dispute is unfolding as OpenAI continues to expand its reach. The company recently announced that its newest model, ChatGPT-5, is now freely available to nearly 700 million weekly users. OpenAI also maintains a close partnership with Apple, revealed last year, which includes integrating ChatGPT features into iPhones and other Apple devices.
Meanwhile, xAI and other tech giants including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft remain locked in a fierce race to develop the most powerful and accessible generative AI technologies.
