Musk accused Apple of “anti-trust” or monopolistic behavior after noticing that the apps were not in the recommendation section despite being among the top in the charts.
Billionaire Elon Musk lashed out at Apple Inc. (AAPL) for not featuring X and Grok, apps developed by his companies, prominently on its App Store.
In a series of posts and replies on Monday, Musk accused Apple of “anti-trust” or monopolistic behavior, and reposted a screenshot of the App Store featuring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the recommendation section at the top of the app window.
“Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?” he wrote in another post.
“Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.”
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.
Musk took a dig when a user shared a picture showing a Facebook app ad appearing at the top of the App Store in the page showing search results for “X.” He said “the ugly Facebook ad” doesn’t even work, and pointed out that Facebook sits as low as 27th among free apps on the App Store.
Apple’s App Store is not new to controversies. Developers have long accused it of charging high fees and having restrictive rules, and several regulators are investigating Apple’s app distribution practices.
Earlier this year, Epic Games’ flagship title “Fortnite” returned to the App Store after a protracted legal battle, following Apple’s decision to allow developers to offer alternative billing options to users.
Meanwhile, Musk is making a bigger push to promote his digital business, xAI, which encompasses X and broader AI development. Grok, which has existed as an AI bot on X, launched as a standalone app in March.
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