- calendar_today August 29, 2025
Elon Musk has upped the ante in his war with Apple and OpenAI, launching a new lawsuit on Monday that claims the two companies have colluded to monopolize the rapidly expanding market for AI chatbots. The filing follows weeks of public outrage from Musk, who has repeatedly accused Apple of elevating OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the App Store while ignoring or blocking his own chatbot, Grok.
Filed on behalf of Musk’s two companies, X and xAI, the lawsuit alleges that Apple and OpenAI are colluding in violation of antitrust and unfair competition laws, not only through App Store rankings, but through an exclusive deal that gives ChatGPT unfettered access to iOS features while preventing rivals from reaching Apple users. Musk says the deal threatens to irreparably damage his stated ambition to create an “everything app” based on the foundation of Twitter, which he purchased in 2022.
The complaint claims that Apple has integrated ChatGPT as the default chatbot in Siri, its Writing Tools, and other applications, providing OpenAI with exclusive access to billions of user prompts. X argues that this access is key to training and improving chatbot models, and without it, Grok and other rival models can’t compete or scale. The filing further alleges that OpenAI already commands at least 80 percent of the chatbot market, and with Apple’s help, will be able to lock in its lead and prevent new entrants.
“The defendants’ unlawful acts have monopolized and would continue to monopolize the market for generative AI chatbots,” the lawsuit states. “Generative AI chatbots would vigorously compete with one another in a fair market. Instead, defendants’ anticompetitive conduct has handed a substantial portion of the market to ChatGPT.”
The filing contends that Apple is acting out of fear of a successful rival super app that could one day replace or even cannibalize iPhones, as WeChat has become a de facto all-in-one alternative to many smartphone functions in China. The suit even quotes Apple executive Eddy Cue as reportedly having expressed concerns that AI advances could “destroy Apple’s smartphone business.” The agreement, Musk’s filing claims, is a last-ditch effort to prop up iPhone sales and use the tailwinds of generative AI to create an insurmountable advantage.
Exclusive Access to AI Chatbots
Apple and OpenAI have structured the partnership to give ChatGPT priority access to all relevant user prompts, the complaint further claims. Apple also excluded “common channels and information sources” from third parties to maintain its “dominant position in chatbots,” the lawsuit alleges, and was brazenly open in communications that “amounted to a celebration of its goal of blocking Grok.”
The complaint draws a direct comparison to Apple’s historic deal with Google, which carved out a generational monopoly that the U.S. Justice Department has long sought to dismantle. Musk’s filing says Apple refused repeated overtures by xAI to integrate Grok into iOS and the App Store. Apple also allegedly refused to feature Grok in the App Store, including during the launch of its “Imagine” feature, as well as selectively promoted ChatGPT updates while stalling or downgrading Grok.
The stakes of the fight, the lawsuit says, go beyond Grok’s ability to reach potential users. Siri generated 1.5 billion requests per day worldwide as of 2024, more than all other generative AI chatbots combined. If Siri’s requests are all going to OpenAI, the company is effectively controlling upwards of 55 percent of all generative AI chatbot prompts, according to X.
Apple, the suit warns, could charge monopoly prices to consumers who have no choice but to buy its devices. The same holds for OpenAI, which is expected to double its “plus” subscription fee over the next four years under current plans. “That plan would be unfeasible unless OpenAI has power over marketwide prices,” the lawsuit claims.
Musk also argues that Apple’s anticompetitive practices will chill investment in new entrants. “Absent OpenAI’s access to iOS and a reasonable probability that Grok can fairly compete on iOS, developers and investors will see little reason to fund xAI or Grok,” the suit states. If Apple continues to “press its thumb firmly on the scale in favor of ChatGPT and other OpenAI services,” Musk’s companies say in the filing, there will be less available funding, hindering innovation and talent development.
“The chilling effect will extend beyond ChatGPT’s competitors,” the lawsuit claims. “Big Tech firms will be able to recruit more developers away from the smaller companies that lack adequate funding, which further hinders their ability to develop and scale.”
Musk has also called into question the financials of Apple and OpenAI’s exclusive deal, which is built on OpenAI effectively paying Apple to be integrated for free. In turn, Apple itself has no near-term plans to monetize access to iOS, X’s lawsuit says, as the first-party software giant is more concerned with preventing competition than charging fees.
“Ill will, not profit,” the filing says of Apple’s agreement with OpenAI. “Apple and OpenAI did not seek the highest return from the transaction, but instead the highest exclusion of competition.”
Apple is seeking billions of dollars in damages from the suit as well as a permanent injunction preventing it from integrating ChatGPT exclusively into iOS, preventing Apple from removing or otherwise blocking Grok. In a statement to Ars Technica, OpenAI described the suit as the “latest in a long line of harassment” from Musk, while Apple declined to comment.
A decision on whether Apple and OpenAI have illegally used their market power to protect their respective near-monopolies may well shape not only Grok’s future, but the future of open and competitive AI innovation.
