Tech Giant’s App Store Rankings Under Fire as Musk Threatens Lawsuit

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has threatened to take legal action against Apple, accusing the tech giant of unfairly favoring OpenAI in its App Store rankings. Musk claims that Apple’s management of the App Store constitutes an “unequivocal antitrust violation,” a charge that has sparked a heated feud between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

In a post on X, Musk accused Apple of refusing to promote his own apps, including xAI’s Grok, to the top of the App Store’s “Must Have” section. “Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store,” Musk wrote. “xAI will take immediate legal action.” Musk’s comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple’s control over its App Store.

Altman responded to Musk’s claims, suggesting that the billionaire entrepreneur has a history of manipulating xAI’s algorithmic recommendations to favor his own tweets and harm his competitors. “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like,” Altman wrote. The tension between Musk and Altman is not new, as the two former business partners have a history of disagreements. In 2015, they founded OpenAI together, but Musk left the startup and rescinded funding in 2018 after proposing to take it over.

The dispute between Musk and Altman has raised questions about Apple’s control over its App Store and the company’s partnership with OpenAI. The EU has already fined Apple €500m for restricting developers’ ability to steer users outside the App Store, and the US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. The lawsuit accuses Apple of creating and maintaining a “broad, sustained, and illegal” smartphone monopoly.

Despite Musk’s claims, evidence suggests that other AI apps have reached the top spot on the App Store in the past year, including Chinese app DeepSeek and Perplexity in India. xAI’s own chatbot, Grok, has even suggested that Altman is right in the dispute, saying “Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right.” The chatbot’s response has sparked debate among users, with some arguing that Musk’s claims are unfounded and others defending the billionaire entrepreneur’s right to speak out against perceived injustices.

The feud between Musk and Altman highlights the growing scrutiny of Apple’s control over its App Store and the company’s partnerships with other tech giants. As regulators and rivals intensify their scrutiny, it remains to be seen how Apple will respond to the allegations and whether xAI will follow through on its threat to take legal action. The outcome of this dispute could have significant implications for the tech industry, with potential consequences for app developers, tech giants, and consumers alike.

In related news, Apple has announced plans to expand its partnership with OpenAI, integrating the company’s ChatGPT technology into its products and services. The move has raised concerns among developers and regulators, who fear that the partnership could further consolidate Apple’s control over the App Store and stifle innovation in the tech industry. The controversy surrounding Apple’s partnership with OpenAI has sparked a wider debate about the role of tech giants in the development and distribution of AI technologies.

As the feud between Musk and Altman continues, one thing is clear: the tech industry is at a crossroads, with regulators, developers, and consumers all demanding greater transparency and accountability from tech giants. The outcome of this dispute will have far-reaching implications for the industry, and it remains to be seen how Apple, OpenAI, and other tech giants will respond to the growing scrutiny.