Musk sues Apple and OpenAI for anticompetitive practices in the AI market

Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI through his companies X and xAI in a federal court in Texas (United States), thus opening a new chapter in his crusade against the company behind ChatGPT.

The magnate accuses both companies of monopolistic and anti-competitive practices that are causing harm to competition and affecting the balance of the artificial intelligence market. In early June, Apple and OpenAI announced an agreement by which ChatGPT would be integrated into Apple’s operating system.

What Musk’s lawsuit states

“This is the story of two monopolists joining forces to secure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence (“AI”). Working together, defendants Apple and OpenAI have locked down markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators such as X and xAI from competing.

Plaintiffs file this lawsuit to prevent defendants from perpetrating their anti-competitive scheme and to recover billions in damages.” Thus begins the lawsuit filed by X and xAI.

The document outlines several accusations against Apple and OpenAI, with the main points being:

• Anti-competitive conduct and AI monopoly: It is asserted that Apple and OpenAI have established a strategic alliance in order to close off the market and make it difficult for other players (such as X and xAI) to compete. The suit compares this practice to previous antitrust precedents involving Apple and the App Store.
• Improper use of user data: By integrating OpenAI’s models into its systems, Apple would be allowing user data from iPhones and Macs to be used to train AI models without the users’ informed consent.
• Exclusion of competitors and innovation: The alliance would limit the ability of other companies to develop competitive AI technologies, consolidating an Apple-OpenAI duopoly within the tech ecosystem.
• Economic and reputational damages to X: X claims that the competitive restraints are causing it loss of market value, reduced opportunities, and damage to its public image.

Musk and his complicated relationship with OpenAI

Earlier this month, Musk had already threatened to take legal action against Apple, accusing the company of preventing any AI company other than OpenAI from attaining the top position in the App Store.

This drew a direct response from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who did not hesitate to allude to rumors concerning Musk’s allegedly unorthodox tactics to achieve his goals: “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he does not like.”

This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like. https://t.co/HlgzO4c2iC

— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025

The conflict between Musk and Altman is well known throughout the industry, and their direct confrontations on social media are a spectacle we witness with (one could say, too much) regularity. As with any drama worth noting, the relationship between these two magnates was not always so tense; in fact, Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI.

When did everything go wrong? It occurred in 2019, when the company shifted from a non-profit approach to a “capped-profit” model to ensure its technological development—an idea with which Musk disagreed. It should also be noted that in 2018, Musk left OpenAI’s board of directors after his plans to assume control of the company were frustrated.

Since then, we have witnessed a series of reciprocal accusations. For example, in March 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for “breach of contract”. Subsequently, in January 2025, Musk initiated another conflict on social media accusing Altman of being a swindler in connection with the creation of the Stargate project.

A new dramatic twist followed when, in February 2025, Musk submitted an unsolicited offer of $97.4 billion to purchase OpenAI. Naturally, this was rejected and regarded more as a provocation than a genuine proposal, considering that the actual estimated value of OpenAI at that time exceeded $300 billion.

Swindler

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

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