Kuwait city: Two companies affiliated with American billionaire Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on Monday against technology giants Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of collusion and engaging in a scheme to suppress competition in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The lawsuit, filed by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI and his social media platform X, claims that Apple and OpenAI conspired to maintain monopolistic control over the smartphone and generative AI markets.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the complaint was submitted to the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. It alleges that Apple marginalized Musk's AI applications, including Grok-a suite of integrated services offering messaging, e-commerce, payments, entertainment, and AI-powered chat-by lowering their visibility in Apple's App Store rankings, while favoring OpenAI's ChatGPT. The filing stated that Apple formed an alliance in a desperate attempt to protect its smartphone monopoly with OpenAI, which benefits most from stifling innovation and competition in generative AI.
Earlier this month, Musk threatened legal action against Apple, accusing the company of "blatant violations of antitrust laws." In a post on platform X, he claimed Apple's conduct effectively blocks any AI company other than OpenAI from reaching top positions in its App Store. OpenAI declined to comment on the lawsuit, while Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
In response to Musk's allegations, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X, questioning the claims and suggesting that Musk manipulates platform X to benefit his interests. A spokesperson for Apple stated that the App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias, hosting thousands of applications.
Musk launched xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and other AI chatbot technology developers. In contrast, Apple last year announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its devices. The lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing dispute between Musk and Altman, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015. Musk left the company in 2018 due to disagreements over its direction.
Last year, Musk also filed a separate lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of prioritizing commercial gain over the organization's founding mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.