Elon Musk sues Apple & OpenAI for allegedly promoting ChatGPT in iPhones - Everything you need to know

Elon Musk sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, August 25, 2025. He alleged that the companies are hurting AI competition in the market by unfairly favoring an artificial intelligence company across iPhones. The tech billionaire filed the lawsuit, claiming that Apple has made it impossible for other AI companies, like his xAI's Grok, to rank on top of its App Store charts.

The lawsuit, filed at a Texas federal court, accused Apple and OpenAI of starting an "anticompetitive scheme" to fend off the latter's AI rivals and maintain monopolies, depriving consumers of their choice. He also alleged that Apple's integration of OpenAI into its iPhone operating system does nothing but harm competition in the market. He said in the complaint,

"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."

Elon Musk files lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI (Image via Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The ongoing lawsuit comes after Elon Musk launched xAI in 2023, which he complained in the filing has been impacted because of Apple and OpenAI's monopolies. He claimed that the pair conspired to suppress xAI's products, especially on the former's App Store. The complaint cites,

"If not for its exclusive deal with OpenAI, Apple would have no reason to refrain from more prominently featuring the X app and the Grok app in its App Store."

Apple is yet to formally respond to Elon Musk's lawsuit. However, an OpenAI spokesperson said, per CNBC, that the tech billionaire's lawsuit is "consistent with Mr. Musk's ongoing pattern of harassment."

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Elon Musk threatened to file the lawsuit against Apple a month ago

Elon Musk's latest lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI for allegedly conspiring against other AI companies is not a surprising move from the Tesla boss. On August 11, Musk threatened Apple with "immediate" legal action. He accused Apple of antitrust violations related to the ranking of xAI's Grok AI chatbot on the Apple App Store.

In his post on his social media platform X, he wrote,

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

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.

In another post, he accused Apple of "playing politics." Apple allegedly refused to put X and Grok in its 'must have' section despite the former being the "#1 news app in the world" and the latter the "#5 among all apps."

At the time, per CNBC, an Apple spokesperson released a statement addressing Musk's accusations. They said that the Apple App Store was designed to be "fair and free of bias." The statement also claimed that the app charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists, like what Elon Musk mentioned, are "selected by experts using objective criteria."

Ironically, Musk's ongoing feud with ChatGPT maker OpenAI comes years after he co-founded the company in 2015 and stepped down from its board three years later, saying that artificial intelligence was "potentially more dangerous than nukes."

On August 5, Musk also revived a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. He alleged that the firm is prioritizing profit over the public good. According to Reuters, the lawsuit was the same one that Musk filed in February but withdrew in June.

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Stay tuned for more news and updates on Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuits.