Elon Musk, xAI Sue Apple, OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly

Elon Musk and xAI have taken the fight against Apple and OpenAI to court by suing both companies for allegedly conspiring to commit App Store monopoly and prevent rivals from getting fair treatment.

The Musk-owned AI company stated in its lawsuit that both Apple and OpenAI have worked together to trump the competition.

The suit claims that X and xAI's products are targeted by both Apple and OpenAI on the App Store, citing the exclusive deal between the two companies to be the reason why X and other Musk-owned apps are tanking the charts.

Elon Musk, xAI Sue Apple, OpenAI Over Alleged Monopoly

Reuters reported that Elon Musk sued Apple and OpenAI, raising a complaint to the court about the alleged conspiracy between the two companies against other AI companies on the App Store. Because of an exclusive deal between Apple and OpenAI, xAI claims in their lawsuit that other AI companies are not getting equal treatment on the App Store.

According to Engadget, the complaint even went as far as to allege that both Apple and OpenAI have "locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing."

The lawsuit also states that all xAI products and related platforms like X are being targeted by Apple and OpenAI by featuring them less on the App Store.

Apple, OpenAI Conspiring on App Store Monopoly?

xAI stated that the scrutiny against them centers on Apple and OpenAI's existing exclusive deal to use ChatGPT to power Siri and Apple Intelligence, hence suppressing other AI apps in the App Store, particularly Grok.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously commented on the matter by quoting Musk's tweet from earlier this month, and he said that Musk manipulates X to benefit himself and his companies on the platform.

Elon Musk vs. OpenAI, Apple

Musk has long been a vocal critic of OpenAI, but he's been vocal against Apple for even longer? Back in 2021, he criticized Apple on their App Store commission rate, saying that Epic Games is right about the monopolistic tactics.

Since then, Musk has sought lower App Store fees and for Apple to change its policies on the commission rate to give X creators a chance to earn more from the subscriptions made on iOS devices.

The multi-tech CEO has also made it clear that he disapproves of OpenAI, despite serving as a previous board member and investor and even took matters to court before eventually rescinding it, only to file the lawsuit yet again.

The lawsuit focuses on the contract breach allegations he threw against OpenAI, saying that Altman plans to transform the company into a for-profit one despite having an agreement among founding members to keep it a nonprofit.

Musk also had a lot to say when Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership last year as the Cupertino tech giant launched Apple Intelligence and featured OpenAI's ChatGPT integration into Siri. The billionaire went as far as to ban Apple devices from being used in his companies, like Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, X, and more.