Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has filed a lawsuit in Texas against Apple and OpenAI, accusing them of colluding to keep competitors — including his chatbot Grok — out of the spotlight. The core of the complaint is Apple’s exclusive Siri integration with ChatGPT, which Musk says gives OpenAI an unfair advantage in the race for generative AI dominance.
Background: From Threats to Court
This legal clash didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this month, Musk threatened to sue Apple after X and Grok were absent from the App Store’s “Must-Have Apps” section. Despite ranking high in other charts, neither app appeared on that curated list, which Musk took as evidence that Apple is actively deprioritizing rivals. Apple promptly responded by rejecting Musk’s claim soon after the threat.
The lawsuit goes further, accusing Apple of slowing down app updates and locking chatbot competitors out of the same system-level integration ChatGPT enjoys with Siri. xAI argues that iPhone users effectively have “no choice” but to use OpenAI’s chatbot if they want AI features built directly into iOS.
What’s Next
xAI is asking the court to put a stop to what it calls Apple and OpenAI’s “anticompetitive scheme” and is also seeking damages. Apple hasn’t commented, but it’s no secret the company has been exploring partnerships with other AI developers — including Google’s Gemini — for future Siri integrations.
The 404 Take
Musk is trying to frame Grok as the scrappy underdog taking on Big Tech. The reality? Users can still download Grok today, but without Siri-level integration, it will always feel second-tier. Ironically, this lawsuit might just accelerate Apple’s efforts to open Siri up to multiple chatbot providers — which could benefit users more than anyone else.
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