Elon Musk’s xAI, together with X (formerly Twitter), has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).
The suit claims Apple’s “Apple Intelligence” rollout privileges OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the on-device assistant, harming rivals like xAI’s Grok and reducing consumer choice.
The complaint alleges that Apple and OpenAI struck an exclusive arrangement that makes ChatGPT the only deeply integrated chatbot on iPhone, steering billions of user prompts to OpenAI and starving competitors of the data and scale needed to improve.
It also accuses Apple of privileging ChatGPT in App Store placements while down-ranking Grok and other AI apps.
xAI and X are seeking an injunction to halt the alleged conduct and, according to multiple reports, “billions” in damages. Early rundowns from the New York Post and the Times of India note the requested relief and frame the dispute within a broader fight over AI platform power.
Apple and OpenAI dispute the allegations. In a statement to reporters, OpenAI characterized the suit as consistent with Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment.”
Apple has previously said the App Store relies on charts, editorial picks, and algorithmic recommendations, not favoritism, and dismissed Musk’s earlier accusations when he first threatened legal action.
Context matters: Musk has been telegraphing this case for weeks, accusing Apple of making it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store” and promising “immediate legal action.” The lawsuit now puts those claims before a judge.
What to watch next:
- Exclusivity facts. Whether Apple’s ChatGPT tie-in is truly exclusive, and for how long, will be central. Apple announced ChatGPT as part of Apple Intelligence; rivals argue that depth of integration creates a default advantage even without formal exclusivity.
- App Store evidence. Expect discovery fights over ranking, featuring, and editorial decisions that could reveal how often ChatGPT was promoted versus Grok. Initial coverage:
- Remedies. Plaintiffs want an injunction and damages. Courts could also consider conduct remedies that govern platform integrations going forward.
