Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged Anti-Competitive Practices in AI and App Markets

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, accusing the tech giants of colluding to stifle competition in AI and smartphone markets. The legal action follows xAI's acquisition of social media platform X earlier this year through a full stock swap.

The complaint alleges Apple is leveraging its platform dominance to favor OpenAI's ChatGPT by deeply integrating it into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS ecosystems while suppressing rival AI tools like xAI's Grok in App Store rankings. This partnership, according to the filing, creates an unfair advantage that locks out competing super apps and AI chatbots from consumer visibility.

Musk's legal team characterizes the alliance as a defensive MOVE to preserve Apple's smartphone monopoly, with OpenAI serving as the primary beneficiary of restricted AI market competition. The lawsuit frames OpenAI as a monopolist in the chatbot sector and accuses Apple of weaponizing its App Store infrastructure to maintain this dominance.