Musk's xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI, Alleging Collusion to Monopolize AI Market
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On August 25, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court, accusing Apple and OpenAI of conspiring to monopolize the AI market. The case has drawn widespread attention in the tech industry.
According to the complaint, xAI alleges that Apple's partnership agreement with OpenAI has made ChatGPT the only generative AI chatbot on Apple devices, excluding other AI products from competition. xAI claims this exclusive status grants OpenAI sole access to "billions of potential user inputs," thereby benefiting its model's continuous improvement.
Apple's partnership with OpenAI began in 2024 when Apple announced it would integrate ChatGPT features based on GPT-4o technology into Siri and the latest iOS, iPadOS, and macOS systems. xAI criticized Apple in the complaint for lacking necessary AI innovation and instead relying on its partnership with OpenAI to maintain its market position.
Additionally, xAI accused Apple of manipulating App Store rankings and deliberately delaying app updates, putting its AI assistant Grok at a competitive disadvantage. Musk had earlier publicly threatened to sue Apple and OpenAI, claiming Grok was excluded from the App Store's "essential apps" list.
As of now, Apple has not formally responded to the lawsuit. The company previously stated that its App Store operates "fairly and without bias" and partners with those offering the best user experience. OpenAI dismissed the lawsuit as part of Musk's "ongoing harassment."
Legal experts note that xAI's litigation strategy appears to draw from the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust case against Google, where a judge ruled Google illegally monopolized the search market by locking down iPhone distribution channels. xAI alleges OpenAI is adopting a similar strategy to control AI-driven search.
If xAI's lawsuit succeeds, Apple may need to establish a similar distribution agreement with xAI and promote AI products more fairly on the App Store. This outcome could significantly reshape competition in the AI industry.
As AI technology rapidly advances and commercialization accelerates, competition among tech giants for AI market control intensifies. The final outcome of this lawsuit will be a key focus for the industry.