Elon vs. Sam: xAI threatens Apple with antitrust lawsuit over App Store featuring
Aug 7, 2025
Key Points
- Musk threatened antitrust action against Apple for excluding Grok from its App Store AI-powered apps feature, but evidence undermines the claim: DeepSeek hit number one overall in January, Perplexity topped India's charts in July, and Grok itself ranks number two in productivity.
- Altman accused Musk of using X's algorithm to benefit his own companies, then challenged him to sign an affidavit denying it; Grok sided with Altman, citing Musk's documented history of directing algorithm changes.
- Grok faces a deeper positioning problem than App Store curation: the app is split between X and standalone, lacks clear consumer strategy despite strong technical benchmarks, and most AI app discovery happens on social platforms rather than inside the App Store.
Summary
Elon Musk accused Apple of antitrust violations, claiming the App Store's editorial decisions prevent any AI company besides OpenAI from reaching the top charts. He said xAI would pursue immediate legal action.
The claim crumbled quickly under scrutiny. DeepSeek reached number one overall in January 2025. Perplexity hit number one in India's App Store in July. Grok reached number one in Japan. Apple is not categorically blocking non-OpenAI apps from chart dominance.
Musk's actual complaint is narrower. Grok ranks number two in productivity and number six overall, but Apple's "AI-powered apps" editorial feature omits it entirely. The featured list includes ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Lightroom, Canva, and Duolingo. Apple curates Grok out of that feature while allowing the app to rank normally in other categories.
Sam Altman responded by accusing Musk of using X's algorithm to benefit his own companies and harm competitors. Musk countered that Altman's posts reach substantial audiences despite far fewer followers. Altman then challenged Musk to sign an affidavit that he never directed algorithm changes to hurt competitors or help his own firms.
When asked for a ruling, Grok sided with Altman. It stated that Musk's antitrust claim is undermined by DeepSeek and Perplexity's chart success and noted Musk's documented history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his own posts. Grok also highlighted the hypocrisy. The response became its own meta-commentary on credibility: because Grok has a reputation for unreliability from recent PR crises, users skeptical of the AI tend to dismiss its verdict in Altman's favor, inverting the argument itself.
The underlying product question is real but distinct from the antitrust framing. App Store discovery is fragmented across multiple entry points seven clicks deep: editorial features, curated collections, and category browsing. Most AI app discovery likely happens on TikTok, X, and Instagram rather than inside the App Store. Whether Apple's editorial exclusion of Grok matters much for consumer adoption remains unclear.
Grok faces a positioning problem independent of app store featuring. The app is split between X, where most usage may flow, and a standalone app. Grok benchmarks highly on technical tests and coding, but technical superiority does not drive consumer adoption. Users develop habits. xAI announced a $200 million Department of Defense contract a month ago, signaling enterprise traction, but consumer strategy remains unresolved. Whether Grok should be a separate app or fully integrated into X, and whether a highly capable LLM should position itself as a companion product, is still an open question.