Elon Musk unexpectedly sued Apple for doing this on the App Store

(NLDO) - Technology billionaire Elon Musk said that Apple was unfair in not including the X application or xAI's Grok chatbot in the list of recommended iOS applications.

According to The Verge , Elon Musk said his artificial intelligence company xAI “will take immediate legal action” against Apple, accusing the company of manipulating App Store rankings to favor rival AI apps.

Apple unfair?

In a series of posts on X on the evening of August 11 (US time), Elon Musk said that Apple was unfair in not including the X application or xAI's Grok chatbot in the list of recommended iOS applications, forcing him to file a lawsuit.

“Apple is behaving in a way that makes it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the #1 spot on the App Store. This is an antitrust violation,” Musk wrote.

“Why does Apple refuse to put X or Grok in the 'Must Have' section when X is the number 1 news app globally and Grok is number 5 among all apps?” - billionaire Musk questioned.

However, Musk has not provided evidence and it is unclear whether he has formally filed a lawsuit.

According to Apple, the App Store is designed to be "fair and unbiased"...; showcasing thousands of apps through rankings, algorithmic recommendations, and expert-curated lists with objective criteria."

Grok App on App Store

Currently, ChatGPT is the top free iPhone app in the US, while Grok is ranked 6th. Notably, in January 2025, China's DeepSeek AI surpassed ChatGPT to take the No. 1 spot, showing that apps other than OpenAI can still be on top.

Elon Musk was previously accused of tweaking X's (formerly Twitter) algorithm after its acquisition in 2022 to prioritize displaying his posts.

A 2024 study also found that content from Musk’s account was boosted. Additionally, in June 2025, the Grok chatbot was found to consult Musk before answering some sensitive questions.

Elon Musk and Apple have also clashed many times. As a co-founder of OpenAI, Musk later left the company and sued it many times, even offering to buy it for $97.4 billion but was rejected.

After OpenAI partnered with Apple to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs last year, the Tesla boss said he would ban Apple devices from his companies if OpenAI's technology was deeply integrated into the operating system.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/elon-musk-bat-ngo-kien-apple-vi-da-lam-dieu-nay-tren-app-store-196250813165456834.htm