Musk announces intention to sue Apple for overlooking X and Grok in the top app listings
In a recent turn of events, Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur behind SpaceX, Tesla, and X, has announced plans to sue Apple for alleged antitrust violations. Musk claims that Apple is deliberately favoring OpenAI's ChatGPT over other AI companies, including his own startup, xAI, by not featuring the Grok chatbot app among the top recommended apps in the Apple App Store.
This controversial move, according to Musk, makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach the top position, an accusation he labels an "unequivocal antitrust violation" [1][2]. As of mid-August 2025, Musk has publicly threatened legal action but has yet to provide detailed lawsuit filings [1].
This is not the first time Apple has faced such allegations. Previous fines totaling billions of dollars have been imposed due to antitrust violations. Last year, the EU fined Apple nearly $2 billion for unfairly favoring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps [4][5].
In April, regulators of the 27-nation European Union fined Apple 500 million euros for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store [2][3]. A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games [1].
As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple's App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube, and Bumble. Open AI's ChatGPT was ranked 7th [6]. Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot app owned by Musk's startup, xAI, has not been featured among the top recommended apps [7].
The controversy has sparked a social media exchange between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, with Altman dismissing Musk's claims and focusing instead on product development [2][3]. Apple has not issued any public comment on Musk's claims [1][2].
It remains to be seen how this legal battle unfolds. As Musk prepares to take on one of the world's most powerful tech companies, the tech industry and consumers alike watch with bated breath.
References: [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/16/elon-musk-says-he-will-sue-apple-over-app-store-allegations.html [2] https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/16/23313106/elon-musk-says-he-will-sue-apple-app-store-openai-chatgpt [3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-16/elon-musk-says-he-will-sue-apple-over-app-store-allegations [4] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/eu-fines-apple-2-4-billion-for-antitrust-abuses-in-app-store.html [5] https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/14/22575820/eu-fines-apple-2-4-billion-antitrust-abuses-app-store-rules [6] https://www.macrumors.com/apps/top-grossing-iphone-apps/ [7] https://www.xai.ai/grok/
