Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has sued rivals OpenAI and Apple in U.S. federal court in Texas on Monday, accusing them of illegally conspiring to stave away competition. The lawsuit accused the two companies of locking up markets to “maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing.”
Apple has integrated ChatGPT into its operating system for iPhones, iPads, and Macs, partnering with OpenAI in 2024.
“If not for its exclusive deal with OpenAI, Apple would have no reason to refrain from more prominently featuring the X app and the Grok app in its App Store,” the lawsuit said. xAI said in the lawsuit that it is seeking billions of dollars in alleged damages.
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In June 2024, Apple launched Apple Intelligence, a new AI framework integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT (powered by GPT-4o) into iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This integration enhanced Siri, Writing Tools, and the Image Playground, enabling users to generate text, rewrite content, summarize, and create images using natural language.
Earlier this month, Apple confirmed that its iOS 26 update—expected in September 2025—will upgrade Apple Intelligence to use ChatGPT-5, further enhancing the Siri and Apple Intelligence experience.
Musk made these accusations earlier, claiming Apple had made it “impossible” for apps to compete with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI in the store. Apple rejected these accusations, saying that its App Store is “designed to be fair and free of bias.”
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OpenAI responded to xAI’s lawsuit saying, “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” Musk had been engaged in a longstanding legal battle against the ChatGPT-maker over its transition from a non-profit organization. He accused OpenAI —which he had co-founded with current CEO Sam Altman — of deviating from its original mission of developing AI for public good rather than profit.
OpenAI countersued Musk, and accused him of a pattern of harassment and asked a federal judge to block any “further unlawful and unfair action” against the company as part of an ongoing legal battle. Following that, Musk attempted a $97.4 billion takeover of OpenAI, but the deal did not come through.
Antitrust legal experts who are not involved in the lawsuit said Apple’s dominant position in the smartphone market could bolster xAI’s claims that the company is illegally tying its iPhone sales with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, they also claim Apple can counter that partnering with OpenAI was a business decision in a competitive environment, and that it has no obligation to help its rivals gain market share.