Musk accuses Apple of sidelining X and Grok in App Store, threatens legal action
Elon Musk has accused Apple of refusing to feature his social platform X and xAI’s chatbot Grok in the App Store’s editorial “Must Have” section, claiming the curation favours rival products from OpenAI. In a series of posts on X late Monday and early Tuesday, Musk said Apple’s practices amount to an antitrust violation and warned that xAI would take immediate legal action.
Musk argued that X is the number one news app globally and that Grok ranks among the top apps overall, yet neither appears in Apple’s highlighted recommendations. He also said Apple’s influence over iPhone distribution makes it a gatekeeper for a large share of the United States, and alleged the company is “relentlessly promoting OpenAI.”
Musk did not provide details about the timing or venue of a potential lawsuit. Apple has not commented publicly on his claims. The App Store’s “Must Have” lists are curated selections that change periodically, and the company typically does not disclose editorial criteria beyond broad guidelines.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman pushed back in public posts of his own. He questioned Musk’s accusations by pointing to reporting that alleged X has boosted visibility for Musk’s content, and suggested that legal discovery could shed light on internal promotion practices at the platform.
The dispute lands as major tech firms race to win distribution and visibility for consumer AI products. Grok is xAI’s generative AI assistant, available within X and on mobile, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT app and integrations are widely promoted across Apple’s ecosystem. Editorial placement can drive significant downloads and subscription revenue, which raises the stakes for developers competing for attention.
Regulators have already increased scrutiny of mobile app stores and default placements. If Musk follows through with litigation, the case could test how far antitrust arguments can reach into editorial promotion and ranking decisions inside a private marketplace.
What happens next will hinge on whether xAI files a complaint, how Apple responds, and whether any regulator takes an interest in the allegations. For now, the battle for prime App Store real estate has moved into the public arena, with two of the sector’s most visible players trading shots in real time.
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