Elon Musk sues Apple and OpenAI for monopoly in artificial intelligence

The rivalry in the world of artificial intelligence has just escalated to an all-time high. Elon Musk , through his companies xAI and X , sued Apple and OpenAI in Texas, accusing them of forming an illegal alliance to block competition in the chatbot and smartphone market.

The 61-page legal document describes Apple and OpenAI as “two monopolists joining forces” to maintain their dominance. The accusation centers on an agreement that made ChatGPT the exclusive iPhone assistant , displacing rivals like Musk’s chatbot, Grok .

The deal, announced in June 2024, allowed ChatGPT to be integrated into Siri and multiple iOS features. This, according to Musk, means preferential access to billions of requests from hundreds of millions of users .

Musk's lawyers claim that Apple manipulates App Store rankings to benefit ChatGPT, even delaying Grok updates. For xAI, this represents a direct blow to innovation and fair competition in the artificial intelligence industry.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was quick to respond. In a post on X, he accused Musk of doing the very thing he's alleging: manipulating his own platforms to gain an advantage.

The conflict isn't new. Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI, but since Musk's departure in 2018, their relationship has become highly contentious.

Court documents reveal that Musk and Mark Zuckerberg discussed a $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI, but the plan never materialized.

Now, with his company xAI , Musk is looking to directly challenge giants like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI . His bet is Grok , a chatbot built on the X platform, designed to compete in the global generative AI market.

Musk's lawsuit isn't just a legal attack: it's also a strategic move to reposition xAI in the global AI race. If the courts rule in his favor, the future of chatbot integration into smartphones could change radically. For now, the battle is just beginning, and all eyes are on what could be one of the largest antitrust trials of the digital age.