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Elon Musk has previously clashed with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on multiple occasions, but this time he has directly accused Apple of deliberately favoring OpenAI in its App Store ranking system. He went so far as to label the move a clear act of anti-competitive behavior, asserting that his company, xAI, would take immediate legal action.
However, Musk offered no concrete evidence to prove that Apple had manipulated App Store rankings, nor did he specify what form his legal response would take.
Musk also criticized Apple for excluding X and its AI chatbot Grok from the “Essential Apps” list, arguing that X is “the world’s number one news app” and questioning why Grok ranked only fifth overall. He alleged that this was the result of deliberate manipulation by Apple.
Apple, in its response, stressed that the App Store’s ranking mechanism is entirely founded on fairness and impartiality. The company stated that rankings and recommendations are determined through download statistics, algorithms, and objective expert criteria, with the dual aim of helping developers reach a wider audience and enabling users to more easily discover quality apps.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded by calling Musk’s remarks “astonishing,” and mocked the possibility that Musk himself might be using X to promote his own products while targeting competitors and individuals he dislikes.
Given Apple’s current partnership with OpenAI — which integrates OpenAI’s AI technology into Apple Intelligence — Musk may be using this as grounds to allege that Apple has granted OpenAI special treatment in App Store rankings.
Yet, with reports suggesting that Apple is also expanding its talks with Google and other AI service providers, Musk’s argument that Apple is favoring OpenAI solely because of their collaboration may face significant challenges in convincing a court.
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