The bitter dispute between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has now extended to Apple, with Musk alleging the tech giant is unfairly boosting OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its App Store.
In a post on X, Musk claimed Apple’s approach “makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1” — calling it “an unequivocal antitrust violation” and pledging that xAI would take “immediate legal action.”
Apple denied any bias, saying its store is “designed to be fair and free of bias” and that apps are featured through “charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria.”
On 12 August, ChatGPT topped the free iPhone app chart, with Musk’s Grok in fifth place.
As of 13 August, Grok has dropped one position from fifth to sixth place. (Source: App store)
Musk also objected to Apple’s “Must Have” section excluding both Grok and X, despite X being “the #1 news app in the world” and Grok ranking high among all apps.
He questioned Apple,
“Are you playing politics?”
Critics pointed out that rival AI services such as China’s DeepSeek and Perplexity AI have also reached number one in various regions this year, challenging Musk’s claims of systemic exclusion.
Altman dismissed Musk’s accusations, referencing past reports that Musk altered X’s algorithm to prioritise his own posts.
“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.”
Musk retaliated on Tuesday morning, accusing Altman of dishonesty and pointing out engagement metrics.
“You got 3M views on your bullsh** post, you liar, far more than I’ve received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!”
He challenged Musk to “sign an affidavit” stating he had never directed algorithm changes to harm competitors, promising a personal apology if proven wrong.
The tensions date back to Musk’s 2018 departure from OpenAI’s board, after which he became increasingly critical of the company’s shift to a for-profit structure and its multi-billion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.
In March 2024, he sued OpenAI for allegedly abandoning its original non-profit mission to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”
A federal judge later denied his attempt to halt the company’s commercial transition.
OpenAI responded with a countersuit in April, accusing Musk of making it his “project to take down OpenAI” and build a competitor “not for humanity but for Elon Musk.”
Since founding xAI in 2023, Musk has merged it with X, raised billions in funding, and attempted — unsuccessfully — to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion earlier this year.
When billionaires wage algorithmic and legal wars, the battleground isn’t just corporate boardrooms.
It’s the platforms billions of people use every day.
Apple’s alleged bias, Musk’s own algorithm controversies, and the tit-for-tat legal threats reveal an industry where transparency is selective and power is concentrated.
Given that AI dominance is increasingly decided by control over user gateways rather than by the quality of the model, the true concern is not Grok's survival against ChatGPT.
Instead, it is the possibility that the competition for visibility is rigged before it even begins.
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