The exchanges on X could set the stage for another clash between the two high-profile executives, who have previously sparred over OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk are trading barbs once again, this time over the xAI founder and chief’s remarks about Apple allegedly favoring ChatGPT over other AI apps on its App Store.
Musk, late on Monday, posted a series of messages blaming the iPhone maker for not featuring X and Grok, operated by xAI, prominently on the App Store, despite them being at the top of the charts.
“Are you playing politics?” he said, referring to Apple, and followed up by saying that xAI will “immediately” take legal action against the company.
Altman posted a sharp rebuttal to Musk’s post, saying that the xAI chief has allegedly been manipulating his X social media platform “to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
The exchanges on X could set the stage for another clash between the two high-profile executives, who have previously sparred over OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model, ChatGPT’s rising market dominance, and the escalating competition with Musk’s xAI and Grok apps.
Altman reshared a story from tech journalist Casey Newton’s Platform newsletter, which, citing reporter interviews and internal documents, described how Musk built a special system to push his posts to the top of users’ timelines.
It is not immediately clear how Musk or xAI will challenge Apple, despite his comments being a direct escalation. According to Apple, the App Store reserves the right to highlight certain apps based on a combination of factors, including their quality, innovation, user experience, and technical excellence.
With Grok, which had long existed as an AI bot on X, launching as a standalone app earlier this year, Musk is squarely in the AI race. Last week, OpenAI released its latest AI model, GPT-5, whose branding features in the App Store recommendation post that Musk criticized.
On Tuesday, X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, chimed in on the debate, saying that ChatGPT displays a warning when users enter a link from a competitor service. He shared a screenshot of the ChatGPT app displaying a “The link may be unsafe” message after pasting a link from X.
“Bingo,” said Musk, replying to Bier’s post. He also agreed with another user’s claim that Grok 4’s progress has made OpenAI nervous.
Altman’s company has reportedly partnered with Apple to integrate GPT-5 on iOS 26, which is expected to be unveiled next month.
The OpenAI CEO ended his post saying he hopes “someone will get counter-discovery” on reports of Musk’s usage of X. “But OpenAI will just stay focused on making great products.”
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