Elon Musk’s X Corp and xAI have filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, accusing the companies of engaging in monopolistic practices in the AI ecosystem. 

The lawsuit originates from Apple’s partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. The lawsuit describes it as an “exclusive arrangement”, which prevents the use of other AI chatbots even if users prefer to do so. 

“As a result of Apple and OpenAI’s exclusive arrangement, ChatGPT is the only generative AI chatbot that benefits from billions of user prompts originating from hundreds of millions of iPhones,” reads the document of the lawsuit, which was shared in a Reuters report. 

The case further accuses Apple of taking “further steps to protect its monopoly” by giving a preference to OpenAI and “deprioritising” competitor apps in App Store ranking. 

“Working in tandem, Defendants Apple and OpenAI have locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing,” read the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit states that while the X app and the Grok app appear in the ‘Top Apps’ list, they do not feature in the ‘Must Have Apps’ section on the Apple App Store. 

The suit claims that the latter recommendations appear first and have the “most visibility” to iPhone users, and says ChatGPT is the only AI chatbot app to appear on the ‘Must Have Apps’ section. 

“Apple exercises more editorial control over the ‘Must-Have Apps’ rankings than it does over other lists,” read the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit also accuses Apple of “delaying approvals for updates to the Grok app” and rejecting requests by xAI for the Grok app to be featured in the App Store when it was launched. 

Furthermore, the lawsuit also alleges that xAI requested to integrate Grok with iOS but was not permitted to do so, and also states that competitors such as Google and Anthropic failed to reach an agreement with Apple. 

In a statement to Reuters, a spokesperson from OpenAI said, “This latest filing is consistent with Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.” 

Besides, the above case is in addition to Musk suing OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, regarding the company’s conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit entity. 

AIM reached out to both Apple, and OpenAI for an official statement, but did not ellicit a response at the time of publishing. 

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