Apple rebukes Elon Musk’s App Store monopoly claims

Days after Musk accused the Apple App Store of giving OpenAI preferential treatment over his own xAI products, Apple has issued a pointed response.

In a statement to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple insisted the App Store "is designed to be fair and free of bias," noting that it features “thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria” to ensure safe discovery for users and opportunities for developers.

Musk’s original post on X claimed Apple’s practices made it "impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." Apple and OpenAI have had a partnership since 2024. However, Musk's claims were quickly undercut by X's Community Notes, which flagged the fact that several other AI apps — like DeepSeek and Perplexity — have topped the App Store charts.

The exchange spiraled into a public spat between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, with Altman accusing Musk of gaming X’s own algorithm for personal gain. Even Grok, xAI’s chatbot, chimed in.

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For now, Musk hasn’t filed a formal antitrust complaint against Apple (nor has he provided evidence of his claims), though if this feud continues to escalate, that may just be a matter of time.