Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Alleging Monopolization of AI Technology

Elon Musk has taken Apple and OpenAI to court, claiming the two companies are working together to block competition in artificial intelligence (AI). The lawsuit, filed in Texas on Monday, says Apple and OpenAI made a deal that unfairly pushes Musk’s AI company, xAI, and its chatbot Grok, out of the market.

According to the case, Apple’s exclusive deal with OpenAI gives ChatGPT a special place on iPhones, iPads and Macs. This means users only get easy access to ChatGPT and not to other AI chatbots. Musk argues that Apple is using its huge smartphone market share, around 65 percent, to keep xAI from competing fairly.

Musk has taken legal action after Apple’s announcement in 2024 to fully integrate ChatGPT into its devices. According to Musk, this move severely limits xAI’s ability to gain popularity in Apple’s App Store, even if users prefer alternative tools like Grok. Musk had earlier warned of potential legal action against Apple, alleging unfair practices.

To date, neither Apple nor OpenAI has commented on the lawsuit. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently criticized Musk, stating that the billionaire frequently manipulates his own platform X to his advantage while attacking competitors.

Despite the lawsuit, Apple’s stock price experienced a 0.6 percent increase on Monday. Tesla, another Musk company, saw its shares rise by 1.2 percent. As OpenAI is not publicly traded and xAI is a young startup competing against industry giants like Microsoft-backed OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek, no stock price fluctuations were reported.