Tech billionaire Elon Musk threatened to sue Apple for not featuring X – formerly Twitter – or its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot among its “Must-Have Apps” in the Apple Store.
“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?” Musk, who purchased Twitter in October 2022, wrote on the platform he since renamed X.
“Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know,” Musk added Monday night, without elaborating.
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Musk, who founded SpaceX and Tesla, previously led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year before a public falling-out with President Donald Trump.
Apple has a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its intelligence ecosystem.
Musk was a co-founder and early donor of OpenAI in 2015 but left its board in 2018. He founded his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, in 2023. In March 2024, Musk sued OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging they breached the company’s original nonprofit mission and were exploiting his donations to build a “for-profit monopoly.”
AppBrain – a well-known provider of Android analytics and advertising partner for developers – ranked X as the “top free news app in the United States” earlier this week. According to that listing, Reddit came in second, followed by Nextdoor: Neighborhood Network, Substack, WatchDuty: Wildfire Maps, and Newsbreak: Local News & Alerts.
As of early Tuesday, TikTok was ranked the highest in Apple’s App Store’s “Must-Have Apps,” followed by Tinder, Duolingo and YouTube. Bumble came in fifth place; HBO Max came in sixth and ChatGPT – owned by OpenAI – was ranked seventh. Neither Grok nor X were listed on the “Must-Have” page featuring a total of 21 popular apps.
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In the “Top Free Apps” section of the Apple Store, ChatGPT was ranked the highest as of early Tuesday – followed by TeaOnHer Dating Advice; Tea Dating Advice; and Threads – which serves as Meta’s competitor for X. ParentSquare was ranked fifth, while Grok – AI Assistant was in the No. 6 spot. Google was listed seventh.
Google Gemini – the AI assistant from Google – ranked 64th as of Tuesday morning.
In the Google Play Store – available on Android devices – ChatGPT has the top free app spot, followed by TikTok, Temu, WhatsApp Messenger, Instagram and Threads. Grok is ranked No. 28 in the list of 45 top free apps available on devices excluding the iPhone.
Apple is facing growing allegations that it violates antitrust laws.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey refused Apple’s motion to dismiss a case brought by the Justice Department last year accusing the company of unlawfully maintaining dominance in the U.S. smartphone market, partially through restrictive App Store policies. Apple submitted a detailed rebuttal in July, arguing that the DOJ fundamentally misunderstands – or deliberately mischaracterizes – its business practices, product design and ecosystem, citing a potential chilling effect on innovation. The trial could begin around 2027.
Apple also lost its attempt to pause a court-ordered app store reform in June that a judge mandated during a long-running antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
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In April, the European Union’s antitrust enforcer fined Apple $587 million for allegedly preventing developers from directing users to alternative purchase options beyond the App Store. Apple appealed last month.
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