Elon Musk, as expected, issued a pointed tweet on Monday evening, directing his criticism at Apple. He shared on X: “Apple is acting in a way that hinders any AI firm other than OpenAI from achieving #1 in the App Store, constituting a blatant antitrust infringement. xAI will pursue immediate legal measures.” Unfortunately for Musk, his social media platform promptly fact-checked his claim. Community notes on his message highlighted that both Deepseek and Perplexity had reached the top of the App Store charts, even after Apple and OpenAI announced a collaboration in 2024.

Nevertheless, Musk persisted in discussing Apple and his conviction that it was undermining the success of xAI and its AI chatbot, Grok. “Sadly, what options do we have?” he remarked on X. “Apple didn’t merely tip the scales; they threw their entire weight on them!” Musk has yet to present proof that Apple has hindered his applications. At this moment, ChatGPT leads the Apple App Store charts; Grok occupies the fifth position, trailing Threads.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the allegation seriously. He quote-tweeted Musk’s post, stating, “This is an extraordinary assertion considering what I have heard suggested about Elon manipulating X for his benefit and that of his companies while harming competitors and those he disapproves of.”

The ongoing dispute this week involving Musk, Altman, and Apple exemplifies the public confrontations among the billionaire figures shaping the world. Recall the Musk-Trump rivalry? Or Zuck and Musk? Or earlier skirmishes between Altman and Musk? Still, there have been disputes and issues on Apple’s side concerning its App Store. Epic Games, for example, has been embroiled in a prolonged legal confrontation with Apple over the inclusion of its popular game Fortnite in the App Store. The judge in the case determined in May that Apple breached a court directive forbidding the firm from engaging in anti-competitive conduct.

It remains uncertain whether Musk will indeed initiate legal proceedings, but it is intriguing to witness the tech titans clashing in a public space.