Elon Musk's company xAI is suing Apple and OpenAI accusing them of monopolistic practices

As the global race for control of artificial intelligence rages on, the startup xAI, founded by Elon Musk, sued Apple and OpenAI, alleging that both companies are committing monopolistic practices and abusively and illegally blocking competition in the generative AI market.

The lawsuit claims that the agreement between Apple and OpenAI makes the popular ChatGPT the only chatbot with privileged access to "billions of user prompts" that are generated from hundreds of millions of iPhones. According to xAI, this massive flow of information gives OpenAI an advantage that is absolutely impossible to replicate among competitors.

Likewise, Musk's company directly accuses Apple of relegating rival apps in its App Store, including Grok, the chatbot for the 'X' platform developed by xAI.

“In a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots,” the lawsuit reads.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the approach xAI raises in its complaint is inspired by the recent antitrust case against Google, in which a federal judge concluded that the company monopolized the search market by guaranteeing distribution on iPhones. In fact, according to Musk's company, Apple would be applying the same logic in favor of OpenAI, which controls one of the most voracious markets today.

However, an OpenAI spokesperson rejected the allegations and claimed that Musk was trying to bully the companies: "This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment."

For its part, Apple did not immediately respond to the complaint, although in the past, in the face of similar allegations, it has assured that its app store is unbiased and that its partnerships seek to ensure the best products for users.