Musk said xAI would sue Apple over App Store ratings

Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday that his artificial intelligence startup xAI would sue Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of antitrust violations in managing App Store rankings, UNN reports, citing Reuters.

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"Apple is behaving in a way that no AI company other than OpenAI can rank first in the App Store, which is an undeniable antitrust violation. xAI will immediately file a lawsuit," Musk wrote in his post on the social network X.

Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Currently, ChatGPT ranks first in the "Top Free Apps" section of the App Store for iPhone in the US, while xAI's Grok ranks fifth, and Google's Gemini chatbot is 57th.

According to Sensor Tower, ChatGPT also leads the Google Play Store rankings.

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Apple is partnering with OpenAI, integrating ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

"Hey, @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to feature X or Grok in the 'Must-Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?" Musk said in an earlier post on Monday.

Musk's comments come amid increased scrutiny from regulators and competitors over Apple's control of its App Store.

In April, a US judge ruled that Apple violated a court order requiring it to allow greater competition in the App Store and referred the company to federal prosecutors for investigation of criminal contempt of court in a case brought by "Fortnite" developer Epic Games.

In April, the EU antitrust authority fined Apple 500 million euros (587 million US dollars), stating that its technical and commercial restrictions prevent app developers from directing users to cheaper offers outside the App Store, which is a violation of the Digital Markets Act.