Elon Musk just fired the biggest legal shot yet in the AI wars. Two of his companies filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing Apple and OpenAI of operating an "anticompetitive scheme" to crush AI rivals, escalating Silicon Valley's battle for control of the artificial intelligence market into the courtroom.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, represents Musk's most aggressive legal challenge yet to what he sees as a rigged AI marketplace. xAI and X allege that Apple and OpenAI have "colluded" to cement their dominance across smartphone and generative AI markets, effectively locking out competitors.
The timing couldn't be more charged. As AI becomes the defining technology battle of the decade, Musk's legal gambit strikes at the heart of Silicon Valley's most powerful alliance. Apple's integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT across its ecosystem has created what Musk calls an impenetrable barrier for rival AI companies trying to reach consumers.
"Unless the court enjoins Apple and OpenAI's unlawful conduct, defendants will continue to thwart competition, and their competitors, like plaintiffs, will continue to suffer the anticompetitive consequences," the complaint states, according to CNBC's reporting.
The lawsuit zeroes in on Apple's App Store as a key chokepoint. Musk argues the company systematically deprioritizes "super apps" and AI chatbot competitors like xAI's Grok in search rankings while giving OpenAI's ChatGPT premium placement through deep iOS integration.
This legal challenge emerges from weeks of escalating tensions. Musk threatened legal action earlier this month, posting on X that Apple "is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store." The post sparked immediate debate, with users citing showing rival chatbots like DeepSeek and Perplexity have topped App Store charts recently.
