Two companies backed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk have filed a lawsuit in the US against Apple and OpenAI, accusing the tech giants of colluding to stifle competition in the fast-growing artificial intelligence market.
The lawsuit, lodged in federal court in Texas by Musk’s social media platform X and artificial intelligence firm xAI, challenges Apple’s decision to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its smartphone operating systems. The filing argues that the exclusive arrangement violates competition law and unfairly disadvantages rivals.
This legal action comes after Musk threatened earlier this month to sue both Apple and OpenAI, claiming Apple had given OpenAI preferential treatment on its App Store, skewing rankings in favour of ChatGPT.
Apple has yet to respond to the lawsuit, while OpenAI dismissed the claims, saying the case was “consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.”
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with Sam Altman but left the company in 2018 following disagreements over its direction. Since then, he has emerged as one of its fiercest critics, accusing Altman of steering the organisation away from its original mission of developing AI for the public good.
The feud deepened as Musk launched his own ventures, including xAI and Grok, an AI chatbot alternative. The lawsuit marks the latest flashpoint in this rivalry, escalating tensions between Musk and his former collaborators.
According to the lawsuit, Apple’s exclusive partnership with OpenAI has harmed competition by giving ChatGPT a built-in advantage across millions of iPhones and iPads.
“There is no valid business reason for the Apple-OpenAI deal to be exclusive,” the filing states. “The arrangement has foreclosed competition among generative AI chatbots, deprived competing generative AI chatbots of scale, and reduced quality and innovation.”
The suit also alleges that the integration granted OpenAI access to valuable user data, while Apple’s app store practices gave ChatGPT higher visibility than rival apps, boosting its downloads.
Musk’s companies argue that the deal has entrenched the market power of both Apple and OpenAI. The filing claims OpenAI controls roughly 80% of the US generative AI chatbot market, while Apple dominates about 65% of the smartphone sector.
Critics say the partnership could create a duopoly that leaves little room for emerging AI competitors. The case adds to the mounting scrutiny of Apple’s app store policies, which have already drawn lawsuits and regulatory action in the US and Europe.
Apple has long defended its practices as fair and unbiased, noting that other AI chatbots such as DeepSeek and Perplexity have topped App Store charts since 2024. The company has also been reported to be in talks with Google about integrating its Gemini chatbot into Siri, potentially diversifying its AI offerings.
The lawsuit could have major implications for the future of AI integration in consumer technology, especially as regulators worldwide weigh antitrust concerns in digital markets.
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