Elon Musk vs Apple: Data Obtained on X Debuts Musk’s Claims of App Store Bias Toward ChatGPT

Elon Musk has accused Apple of unfairly promoting OpenAI's ChatGPT in the App Store rankings. However, available data indicates that other AI applications have also reached the top position since Apple's collaboration with OpenAI began. Musk claims Apple's actions constitute a clear antitrust violation and announced that his AI company, xAI, will pursue legal action.

AI Apps Competing for Top Spot

Apple's partnership with OpenAI commenced in June 2024, integrating ChatGPT into iOS. According to India Today's reporting, despite Musk's allegations, a "community note" on X (formerly Twitter) highlighted that other AI apps have achieved the number one spot since then. For instance, DeepSeek, a Chinese AI app, topped the App Store in January 2025 shortly after launching its R1 model.

Elon Musk Says Apple Favors ChatGPT, but App Store Data Disputes Claim

Photo Credit: AI Generated

Perplexity AI also reached the number one position on India's App Store on 18 July 2025, as noted by CEO Aravind Srinivas. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported that Musk's own Grok app hit number one in February 2025 after xAI made its Grok-3 model free. Screenshots shared by X users and a resolved Polymarket betting market support this claim.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, challenged Musk's accusations publicly. Altman stated, "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." In response, Musk accused Altman of lying and pointed out that Altman's post garnered more views despite Musk having more followers.

Musk's Legal Threats

Altman urged Musk to sign an affidavit confirming he never altered X's algorithm to disadvantage rivals or promote his businesses. He promised to apologise if Musk complied. Meanwhile, Grok, xAI's chatbot, currently ranks fifth among Apple's top free apps, trailing behind ChatGPT. Although ChatGPT frequently leads the rankings, it is not alone at the top.

Data from SimilarWeb shows ChatGPT was downloaded nearly 30 million times in one month this year but was not the most downloaded app of 2024; Temu held that title. Apple recently addressed Musk's claims about favouring ChatGPT over his apps in the App Store. The company emphasised fairness and objectivity while aiding developers through unbiased recommendations and expert curation.

Musk's legal threat remains untested for now. However, evidence suggests that Apple's top App Store position is not exclusively reserved for ChatGPT competitors.