By Atoyebi Nike
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI in a U.S. federal court in Texas, accusing the companies of colluding to restrict competition in the AI market.
The lawsuit seeks billions of dollars in damages, alleging that Apple’s integration of ChatGPT into its operating systems and App Store policies unfairly lock out rivals.
xAI argued that without its exclusive deal with OpenAI, Apple would have “no reason to refrain from more prominently featuring the X app and Grok app” in its App Store. Musk reinforced the claim on his social platform, X, saying Grok with “a million reviews and a 4.9 rating” is being deliberately sidelined.
OpenAI dismissed Musk’s allegations as harassment, while Apple has yet to respond.
Legal experts say the case could give U.S. courts their first chance to define the scope of the AI market in antitrust law. They noted that Apple may argue its decision to partner with OpenAI was based on security and operational factors, while critics say Apple is illegally tying iPhone sales to OpenAI’s chatbot.
The lawsuit comes as Musk pushes xAI’s Grok chatbot, already integrated into Tesla vehicles, to compete with OpenAI, Microsoft-backed projects, and Chinese startup DeepSeek. Musk has also made a $97.4 billion takeover bid to return OpenAI to its original nonprofit mission a move rejected by CEO Sam Altman.
Apple, meanwhile, continues to face global antitrust scrutiny over its App Store, with past cases including the Epic Games dispute forcing the tech giant to loosen some policies.
