Elon Musk is leading a legal charge against what he describes as an “unlawful” digital fortress built by Apple and OpenAI. A new lawsuit from his xAI startup alleges that the two companies have conspired to create an impenetrable market position, leveraging their combined power to lock out any and all competition in the AI chatbot space.
The complaint argues that the integration of ChatGPT into Apple’s operating systems is the primary wall of this fortress. This strategic move, Musk contends, is an illegal use of Apple’s smartphone monopoly to solidify OpenAI’s dominance in AI. This leaves rival products, like xAI’s Grok, with no viable path to reach a mass audience on the world’s most profitable mobile platform.
The lawsuit is the latest and most aggressive move in Musk’s long-running campaign against OpenAI, the company he helped found but later left amid strategic disputes. He has been a vocal critic of its commercialization, and this lawsuit seeks to dismantle its most important commercial partnership while seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
OpenAI has publicly refuted the allegations, framing them as another baseless attack from a bitter former partner. A spokesperson for the AI leader described the legal filing as being “consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” The stage is now set for a monumental legal clash over the rules of competition in the age of AI.