Elon Musk’s X and xAI filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI on Monday, alleging that the two companies are colluding to stifle competition.
“In a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots,” the lawsuit reads, referring to Apple’s partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its systems.
This lawsuit is part of a long series of disputes between Musk and Altman, who continue to throw public jabs at one another. Once a co-founder and co-chair of OpenAI, Musk has sued to block OpenAI’s transition into a for-profit company. He also submitted an unsolicited bid to take over OpenAI for $97.4 billion, which the company rejected.
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
Musk posted anticompetitive allegations against OpenAI and Apple on X earlier this month, claiming that it’s “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.”
The partnership between Apple and OpenAI was announced last June, with collaborative features expected to ship in December.
OpenAI and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.
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