On August 25, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI filed a lawsuit with the U.S. federal court, accusing Apple and OpenAI of colluding to monopolize the AI market. This lawsuit has drawn widespread attention in the technology industry.
According to the complaint, xAI alleges that Apple's partnership with OpenAI has made ChatGPT the only generative AI chat tool on Apple devices, which excludes other AI products from competing. xAI claims this exclusive position gives OpenAI exclusive access to "billions of potential user inputs," thereby benefiting its model's continuous improvement.
The collaboration between Apple and OpenAI began in 2024, when Apple announced it would integrate ChatGPT powered by GPT-4o technology into Siri and the latest iOS, iPadOS, and macOS systems. In the complaint, xAI criticized Apple for lacking necessary AI innovation and instead using its partnership with OpenAI to maintain its market position.
In addition, xAI also accused Apple of manipulating App Store rankings and deliberately delaying app updates, putting its AI assistant Grok at a disadvantage in the market. Musk had publicly threatened to sue Apple and OpenAI earlier this month, claiming that the Grok app was not included in the "essential apps" list of the App Store.
To date, Apple has not made an official response to this lawsuit. The company previously stated that its app store operations are "fair and unbiased" and will collaborate with partners that can provide the best user experience. OpenAI, on the other hand, has viewed this lawsuit as a continuation of Musk's "ongoing harassment."
Legal experts have noted that xAI's litigation strategy seems to draw inspiration from the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google. In that case, the judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the search market by locking in iPhone distribution channels. xAI accuses OpenAI of adopting similar strategies to control the AI-driven search market.
If xAI's lawsuit is supported by the court, Apple may need to enter into similar distribution agreements with xAI and promote AI products in a more fair manner within the App Store. This outcome could have a significant impact on the competitive landscape of the entire artificial intelligence industry.
As AI technology develops rapidly and commercialization accelerates, competition among tech giants over control of the AI market is becoming increasingly intense. The final outcome of this lawsuit will be a focal point of industry attention.
