Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring OpenAI in App Store Rankings

Elon Musk is threatening to sue Apple over the way it ranks AI firms in its App Store.

“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation,” the billionaire wrote on his X social media platform Monday (Aug. 11) evening.

Musk added that xAI, his artificial intelligence (AI) company, “will take immediate legal action.”

As of early Tuesday (Aug. 12) morning, OpenAI’s ChatGPT was the number one free app in the App store, with Grok, xAI’s chatbot, sitting in the number six position. A report on the matter by Reuters notes that ChatGPT also holds the top spot among apps in Google’s app store.

“Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world…Are you playing politics? What gives?” Musk wrote in an earlier post.

PYMNTS has contacted Apple for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

This isn’t the first time Musk has clashed with Apple over its relationship with OpenAI. After Apple said it would integrate ChatGPT into its operating system last year, Musk said he would ban Apple devices at his companies, which also include Tesla and Starlink.

And if Musk makes good on his threat to sue, it would add to a list of legal troubles for Apple related to the App Store.

A federal judge ruled in April that the company had violated a court order — in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games — that required it to allow more competition in the App Store. The ruling also referred Apple to prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt probe. Apple has said it would appeal the decision.

Writing about this decision last month, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster said the ruling placed a “big blinking asterisk” on the $20 billion profit engine that is the App Store.

“The Epic ruling puts this once untouchable revenue stream at risk and gives developers legitimate ways to avoid paying the Apple commission,” she wrote.

“Spotify and Netflix and Amazon already use their newfound right to steer users off-platform to sign up. Stripe has published a playbook to show developers how, which suggests a giant sucking sound may follow.  Apple’s grip on its ecosystem profits is slipping.”

Also in April, the tech giant was fined 500 million euros ($587 million) fine by the European Commission — Europe’s competition watchdog. The commission found that Apple’s rules kept app developers from guiding users to cheaper offers outside the App Store in violation of the Digital Markets Act. Apple is appealing that ruling as well, calling it “unlawful.”