Musk Threatens Apple With Legal Action as Feud With Altman Intensifies

Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple, accusing the company of making it
“impossible” for artificial intelligence apps to compete with ChatGPT on its App Store.
In a post on X, the platform he owns, Musk claimed Apple’s “Must Have” feature
excluded his xAI chatbot Grok and X itself, describing the move as an “unequivocal
antitrust violation.” He said his company would “take immediate legal action.”

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman rejected the claim, saying it was “remarkable”
given allegations that Musk uses X to promote his own businesses and undermine
competitors. Musk responded by calling Altman a “liar.”

The exchange is the latest escalation in a long-running dispute between the two
billionaires, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before Musk left three years later over
disagreements about the organisation’s direction. Since then, Musk has launched his
own AI venture, xAI, and has repeatedly clashed with Altman over the company’s
structure, commercial partnerships and use of data.

Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI in June 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into its
devices, but there is no evidence that it has prevented rival AI apps from reaching the top of its charts. DeepSeek and Perplexity have both topped the App Store rankings in recent months, and Grok itself briefly reached No.1 earlier this year.

Elon Musk (Getty Images)