After claiming that his Grok AI was being denied exposure that Elon Musk feels he's entitled to in the App Store, he has followed through and has filed an antitrust lawsuit.

Musk originally made the claim on Twitter, saying Apple's deal with OpenAI meant the App Store would now never promote any rivals. The claim was then refuted by the facts, by online users, by Apple, and even by Grok AI itself.

Musk's xAI company has filed suit against both Apple and OpenAI. The suit is specifically concerning AI competition, and App Store rankings.

There are few details as yet, but the suit has been filed in a US federal court in Texas. It claims that OpenAI and Apple are illegally conspiring to thwart any AI competitors.

We spoke with lawyers last week, when Musk started saber-rattling. It's not clear what case Musk will make, as the claims are baseless.

As Musk's own Grok noted when asked by a social media user, other companies other than OpenAI have been on the top of the App Store.

DeepSeek was in the App Store top spot in January 2025. Perplexity followed on July 18, and both happened after the June 2024 OpenAI and Apple partnership.

Further complicating the suit, app data aggregator SensorTower has also noted that Grok was on the peak App Store spot on February 18 and February 19 after Grok-3 was made free.

It has been argued that if Musk were to file such a suit, it could damage Apple because the App Store is currently multiple facing regulatory pressures worldwide. Yet with no evidence to support his assertions, and with much evidence against him, this appears to be little more than a base rallying point, around a nuisance suit that should be easily defeatable in court.

Another round of Apple versus Musk

This isn't the first time Apple and Musk have crossed paths. The controversial figure has previously shared misinformation about Apple and OpenAI's deal, likely in irritation about not being offered similar.

Musk also railed against Apple for not using his satellite service, not advertising on X. They've since returned under government pressure, and fought against Apple's 30% commission.

Apple has no obligation to promote X or Grok. Decades of precedent also allow Apple to pick and choose with whom it chooses to do business with in the free market. And, Apple's cash hoard certainly helps.

If Musk wants to cry antitrust under the veil of consumer choice, perhaps he can look at allowing Tesla vehicles to run CarPlay.

It is difficult to ascertain exactly how the government will react to such a lawsuit as it likely depends on the district of the lawsuit and the judge assigned — in this case, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.