Elon Musk has officially taken his AI grudge match to the courts. His startup xAI and social platform X (formerly Twitter) filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Apple and OpenAI of teaming up to crush rivals and lock down the future of artificial intelligence.
The case, filed in federal court in Texas, zeroes in on Apple’s 2024 deal to bake ChatGPT directly into iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Musk argues that the exclusive tie-up essentially shut out competitors like his own Grok chatbot and tilted the App Store in OpenAI’s favor.
“Apple’s conduct inhibits the growth of AI and super apps,” the complaint says, calling the partnership an “anticompetitive scheme.”
Musk had previewed the move earlier this month, blasting Apple on X and vowing to sue for what he called “an unequivocal antitrust violation.”
Neither Apple nor OpenAI responded to requests for comment, though OpenAI later dismissed the case as part of Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment.”
The lawsuit is the latest flashpoint in Silicon Valley’s messy AI arms race. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman back in 2015 before splitting in 2018. Since then, the two have become bitter rivals, with Musk launching xAI and integrating Grok into both X and Tesla cars. He’s also suing OpenAI separately in California, accusing Altman of turning the once non-profit into a profit machine.
Legal experts say the case could be a landmark: one of the first big antitrust battles to test whether AI itself counts as a market. For Musk, it’s also personal — another round in his long-running fight to prove OpenAI isn’t the only player that matters.
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