Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has continued his war on Apple and OpenAI by filing a lawsuit on Monday that claims the companies have “colluded” to create “entrenched monopolies” in the new and rapidly-growing field of artificial intelligence chatbots. Musk filed suit just weeks after he publicly criticized Apple for highlighting OpenAI’s ChatGPT while ignoring his own chatbot, Grok, in the App Store’s “Must Have” category.

Filed on behalf of Musk’s social media firm X and research firm xAI, the lawsuit goes far beyond complaints about App Store rankings to claim Apple and OpenAI are in an exclusive agreement to advance ChatGPT over its rivals in a way that locks out competitors from Apple’s massive user base. The complaint claims the arrangement violates antitrust and unfair competition laws and threatens Musk’s stated long-term vision of creating a so-called “everything app” on the backbone of Twitter, which he bought in 2022.

Musk’s suit alleges Apple integrated ChatGPT into iOS 17 as the default chatbot for Siri, Apple’s Writing Tools, and other features, giving OpenAI unprecedented exclusive access to billions of user prompts that can be used to train and improve the service. X argues that those data points are a critical part of what allows a chatbot to scale, and without similar access, rivals like Grok have no way to reach the scale necessary to compete. It estimates OpenAI’s market share at over 80 percent already, but it expects Apple’s move to cement that as an unassailable lead.

“If chatbots were generative AI software programs, defendants’ actions could not possibly run afoul of the antitrust laws,” the filing states. “But chatbots are not stand-alone software programs; they compete directly with one another in the market for AI chatbot services by speaking directly to the same end users. Generative AI chatbots would vigorously compete with one another in a fair market. Instead, defendants’ anticompetitive conduct has handed a substantial portion of the market to ChatGPT.”

In addition, X argues that Apple is acting out of a fear that a successful rival super app could make the iPhone less of a “category killer” down the line, the same way WeChat has in China. The lawsuit also cites an Apple executive, Eddy Cue, as allegedly saying internal discussions included concerns that advances in AI could “destroy Apple’s smartphone business.” In Musk’s view, that means the Apple-OpenAI deal is a short-term move to prop up the iPhone at the cost of its own platform as well as a means to ensure OpenAI builds an insurmountable lead in generative AI.

The complaint likens the deal to Apple’s similar arrangement with Google to make its search engine the default on iOS and Macs. The U.S. government has taken that deal to court in recent years as a major cause of Google’s entrenched search monopoly. Musk alleges Apple turned down repeated requests from xAI to reach a similar arrangement with Grok and also refused to help xAI feature Grok in the App Store. That includes, Musk notes, when it added the new “Imagine” feature last year, a move that X describes as a delayed release and unfair downranking of Grok.

Beyond that, the lawsuit claims Apple has also used its control over the App Store to stifle competition by gaming App Store rankings and other factors, and also artificially delaying updates for Grok while it was in beta. At stake in this deal, Musk argues, is not only the ability for Grok to compete but the entire future of AI-driven apps and features. The complaint cites one number: Siri fielded 1.5 billion daily requests from users around the world in 2024, a number greater than the total prompts collected by all generative AI chatbots that year. If only OpenAI receives those prompts, it has a de facto share of up to 55 percent of all chatbot interactions, X claims.

The filing also suggests the outcome for users would be significant. The deal may not only limit the choice and capabilities available to Apple customers, it says, but also drive up prices. Apple customers may still have to pay monopoly prices for iPhones without a real choice of a next-generation super app. And OpenAI, in turn, could use its new market power to raise its subscription prices without fear of losing users, with plans to double its “plus” subscription fees over the next four years. “That plan would be unfeasible unless OpenAI has power over marketwide prices,” the lawsuit alleges.

In addition, Musk argues that the Apple-OpenAI deal could have a chilling effect on the investment that rivals are able to attract and keep. If Apple continues to “press its thumb firmly on the scale” in favor of ChatGPT, other investors may see little point in attempting to support competing chatbots, X warns, leaving them at a permanent disadvantage and starved for resources to grow. The risk, it adds, is also talent, with the potential for developers to be scooped up by Big Tech firms if they cannot find the resources to properly back rival startups.

The lawsuit also questions the logic of Apple and OpenAI’s financial arrangements, with xAI’s complaint saying OpenAI actually provided ChatGPT to Apple at no cost, essentially paying for the partnership itself. It adds that Apple has already stated it is not even expecting to see a profit from the deal in the near future. Instead, X’s filing suggests both companies are treating the arrangement less as a source of revenue than a strategic priority for non-monetary reasons, as it so clearly blocks out rivals.

“By making the deal exclusive, Apple sacrificed the profits it would have earned by integrating multiple chatbots,” the complaint states. “The true motive was Apple and OpenAI’s shared goal of blocking competition.”