Musk threatens Apple with legal action over alleged mistreatment of his applications - musk asserts intention to sue apple over alleged mistreatment of app offerings
In an unprecedented move, Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has announced its intention to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit, if filed, would be in response to allegations that Apple discriminates against xAI's apps, particularly the Grok chatbot, by manipulating App Store rankings to favour competing AI products, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The legal action threat comes after Musk's public announcements on social media around August 11–12, 2025. The complaint centres on Apple's control over app distribution on iOS devices and its alleged preferential treatment of certain AI apps due to its business ties with OpenAI.
Musk claims this is an anticompetitive practice aimed at limiting Grok's visibility and market potential despite strong user downloads, describing it as an "unequivocal antitrust violation."
Apple, however, has firmly denied these allegations. The tech giant asserted that App Store rankings are fair and algorithm-driven, not biased towards any particular app or company. Apple pointed to the presence and promotion of various AI apps, including Perplexity and DeepSeek alongside ChatGPT, to counter Musk's claims of favouritism.
The dispute reflects a larger battle over platform fairness, market dominance, and transparency in how major tech companies curate their software ecosystems.
As of mid-August 2025, the lawsuit has not been formally filed or adjudicated. Publicly available information from 2025 does not indicate that Musk or xAI has already filed a lawsuit; the situation is currently at the stage of Musk threatening immediate legal action.
This is not the first time Musk has taken legal action against perceived mistreatment of his firms. In the past, he has sued several companies and an industry group, accusing them of colluding to harm the Twitter platform after he took over and relaxed content rules, causing advertisers to leave the platform.
If the lawsuit proceeds, it could potentially alter the way apps are treated in the App Store. The case, if it proceeds, would be part of ongoing global scrutiny of Apple’s App Store practices that have faced multiple antitrust and regulatory challenges in recent years.
In summary, the current status is that Elon Musk's xAI plans to sue Apple for alleged anticompetitive discrimination against its AI app Grok in the App Store, while Apple denies the accusations and maintains its ranking system is impartial. The lawsuit itself has not been formally filed or adjudicated as of mid-August 2025.
The Commission, in light of the ongoing dispute between Elon Musk's xAI and Apple, might consider the possibility of providing financial support for xAI in their legal battle, if necessary, to ensure fair competition in the technology sector and uphold business ethics.
Moreover, the Commission could potentially propose a directive on the protection of AI businesses from anticompetitive practices, aiming to prevent future instances of discrimination and maintain a level playing field in the technology industry.
