Musk’s X, xAI Sue Apple, OpenAI for Alleged ‘Anticompetitive Scheme’

Elon Musk followed through on his threat.

Musk’s companies X and xAI on Monday sued Apple and OpenAI in Texas federal court, alleging they have engaged in an “anticompetitive scheme” that prevents competitors like xAI’s Grok from competing fairly and ascending the App Store charts.

Two weeks ago, Musk had written on his X social media network that its parent company, xAI, would “take immediate legal action” against Apple for an alleged “antitrust violation” related to App Store rankings. The Tesla (TSLA) CEO—whose xAI developed the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot and co-founded ChatGPT maker OpenAI—wrote, “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 and Grok is #5 among all apps?”

Monday’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that “in a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots.”

An OpenAI spokesperson told Investopedia, “This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple shares edged higher Monday afternoon.