Elon Musk, in a post on X, has threatened to sue Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of favouritism that benefits OpenAI over Musk's own artificial intelligence startup xAI.
According to Musk, this alleged bias violates anti-trust regulations in managing the rankings in its App Store.
His posts triggered a back-and-forth spat on X between him and Sam Altman, the OpenAI CEO and Musk's former business partner.
"Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action," Musk wrote in a post on X.
In a post earlier that day, he said, "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? Are you playing politics?"
Altman got back to Musk on X, saying he manipulated X's algorithm to champion his own tweets.
"This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that [sic] Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like, " Altman wrote.
Musk replied to Altman's tweet: "You got 3M views on your bullshit [sic] post, you liar, far more than I've received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!"
In a series of tweets that followed, Altman dismissed Musk's low viewership as a "skill issue," then added, "or bots".
Later, he said, "Will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies? I will apologize if so."
OpenAI's ChatGPT currently holds the top position in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section in the US, while xAI's Grok ranks fifth.
In June 2024, OpenAI announced its partnership with Apple that incorporated ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs.
Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left the startup and withdrew his funding in 2018 after an unsuccessful attempt to take control of the company—a petition that other executives rejected.
Since then, Musk has sued OpenAI twice over its shift toward a for-profit enterprise, accusing the company of "deceit of Shakespearean proportions." Altman, in turn, has portrayed Musk as a bitter and petty former partner, envious of OpenAI's success after his departure.
Users on X – through the community notes feature – have pointed out that a few apps besides OpenAI have taken the top spot on the App Store this year
Chinese AI app DeepSeek reached the No 1 spot on the platform in January, while in July, Perplexity took first place in India's App Store – both occurring after the OpenAI and Apple partnership struck last year.
On a curious note, at the wake of the feud, one user asked X's native AI, Grok, who was right in the feud.
"Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right," the chatbot replied.
Musk's comments come amid growing scrutiny from regulators and rivals over Apple's control of its App Store.
Earlier this year, Apple was ordered to pay a fine of €500m ($581.15m) by the EU antitrust enforcer, which said the company's restrictions prevented developers from steering users outside the App Store, according to The Guardian.
The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in early 2024, accusing the iPhone maker of creating and maintaining "broad, sustained, and illegal" smartphone monopoly.
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