Musk's xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged Antitrust Violations

In a new legal battle, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has sued tech giants Apple and OpenAI, alleging their partnership violates antitrust regulations. According to the lawsuit filed in US federal court on Monday, the deal between Apple and OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and other Apple features has given the AI chatbot an unfair advantage.

The lawsuit claims that as a result of this agreement, ChatGPT has become the "default" and "only" generative AI chatbot with a first-party integration on Apple's smartphones, denying rival chatbots the same reach and access to users. It also accuses OpenAI of holding a monopoly in the AI chatbot market.

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Apple has failed to innovate in the AI sector, with the faltering rollout of its Apple Intelligence system, and has manipulated its App Store rankings and delayed app updates to disadvantage xAI's Grok chatbot. The suit consciously echoes previous allegations made against Apple for quashing the development of AI-powered "super apps" that threaten its high-margin services business.

This latest legal action marks the continuation of a long-standing feud between Musk and the two tech giants. Musk had previously criticized the Apple-OpenAI deal as an "unacceptable security violation" and threatened to ban Apple devices at his companies. The billionaire has also been engaged in a separate legal battle with OpenAI, alleging the company's pursuit of profits constitutes a breach of contract.