Apple has firmly denied Elon Musk’s recent claims that the App Store unfairly blocks competition, saying the platform is “designed to be free and fair of bias.“
Musk, who owns X (formerly Twitter), accused Apple of making it nearly impossible for apps competing with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to succeed in the App Store. He even threatened legal action over the issue. The standoff comes amid a broader, current feud between Musk and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman.
Apple responded with a statement emphasizing that its App Store features thousands of apps chosen through objective methods, including charts, algorithms, and expert curation. The tech giant pointed out that several AI apps rival ChatGPT – like DeepSeek and Perplexity, have reached top positions on the store charts.
Meanwhile, Musk questioned Apple’s lack of promotion for his own apps, X and the AI chat app Grok, noting that while Grok ranks fifth most downloaded free app in the UK and X is the top news app globally, Apple has not featured them in the App Store’s “Must Have” section.
Altman pushed back by accusing Musk of boosting his own X posts for personal gain and dismissed Musk’s claims as serving his own agenda rather than the AI community’s interests.
This battle seems to have emanated from a deeper clash rooted in their past. Musk co-founded OpenAI to develop AI benefiting humanity. However, since OpenAI introduced a for-profit arm and partnered closely with Microsoft, Musk has expressed disappointment, arguing they moved away from their original ideals. Lawsuits and sharp accusations have marked their rivalry, including Musk’s failed $100 billion bid to buy OpenAI earlier this year.
