Emma Roth, writing for The Verge:

Elon Musk is suing Apple and OpenAI over claims that their deal to build ChatGPT into the iPhone is stifling competition in the AI industry. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the Musk-owned X Corp. and xAI also accuse Apple’s Apple Store of “deprioritizing” rival chatbots and “super” apps, including Grok and X.

Musk’s companies claim that iPhone users “have no reason” to download third-party AI apps because the company “force[s]” users to use ChatGPT as their default chatbot app when enabling Apple Intelligence. “Apple and OpenAI have locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing,” the companies allege.

Elon Musk cannot help but continue to embarrass himself and draw negative attention. The lawsuit cites monopoly-like behavior rooted in integration and suppressed visibility. But there are public counterexamples: AI apps such as DeepSeek (which topped the App Store in January), Perplexity (ranked #1 in India in July), and even Musk’s own Grok briefly hit the top spot in February. These instances immediately complicate (if not outright debunk) claims that Apple’s system entirely forecloses AI competition.

Antitrust law doesn’t prohibit partnerships either. It simply requires demonstration of unfair exclusion, discrimination, or abusive conduct. Apple is already exploring other AI partnerships with Gemini and Claude which counters any accusation of exclusive behavior. Maybe if Grok wasn’t praising Hitler and parroting far-right conspiracy theories xAI would be part of those discussions too.