Sam Altman hits back at Elon Musk’s Apple attack, says he rigs X to favour himself

New Delhi: The ongoing rivalry between tech titans Sam Altman and Elon Musk reached new heights as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sharply rebuked Musk’s accusations that Apple is unfairly favouring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its App Store rankings.

Musk, the founder of xAI, claimed Apple’s practices constitute an “unequivocal antitrust violation” and vowed to take immediate legal action, prompting a pointed response from Altman that has reignited their public feud.

The dispute began when Musk posted on X, alleging that Apple’s App Store policies make it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1,” citing ChatGPT’s top spot on the “Top Free Apps” chart in the US.

Musk’s own AI chatbot, Grok, developed by xAI, currently ranks fifth, while Google’s Gemini lags at 57th, according to Sensor Tower data.

Musk further questioned why Apple’s “Must Have” section excludes X and Grok despite their high rankings, hinting at potential political bias. “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? Are you playing politics?” Musk wrote.

Altman fired back on X, calling Musk’s claims “remarkable” and accusing him of hypocrisy. “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like,” Altman posted, linking to an article titled “Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first.” 

This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like. https://t.co/HlgzO4c2iC

— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025

Altman’s response suggested that Musk manipulates X’s algorithm to prioritise his own posts and interests, a charge that adds fuel to their long-standing rivalry. “I hope someone will get counter-discovery on this, I and many others would love to know what’s been happening,” Altman added, hinting at potential scrutiny of Musk’s practices in any legal proceedings.

The clash comes amid Apple’s partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs, a deal that has bolstered ChatGPT’s visibility but drawn Musk’s ire.

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who left the company in 2018, has repeatedly criticised its direction and launched xAI as a direct competitor. The recent release of xAI’s Grok 4 model and the decision to make its Imagine feature free for all users have boosted Grok’s App Store ranking, but not enough to overtake ChatGPT.

Apple has not publicly responded to Musk’s allegations, which come at a time of heightened scrutiny over its App Store practices. In April 2025, the European Union fined Apple €500 million for violating competition rules by restricting app developers from directing users to cheaper alternatives outside the App Store. A US federal judge also recently ruled that Apple breached a court injunction in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, referring the matter for a criminal contempt inquiry.

The public spat has sparked widespread reactions on X, with some users siding with Musk’s claims of App Store bias, while others echoed Altman’s accusations of X manipulation. One user remarked, “Who’s going to tell Elon that GPT-5 is 10X better than Grok?” while another quipped, “Lol, how is this where we’ve arrived… all the people controlling our data suing each other over who gets more access to our data… for free.”