Tech Desk 
Aug 12, 2025
In a surprising turn of event surrounding Apple's use of unfair tactics for App Store rankings, tech billionaire Elon Musk has accused the tech giant of unfairly excluding his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok from the App Store’s top recommended apps.
Musk, having threatened to take legal action against the iPhone maker, brought his views to light on X late on Monday.
The owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and X argued that Apple’s biased App Store rankings created an uneven playing field for iOS app developers, claiming that the company is making it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the top of the App Store.
“This is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action,” read Musk's post.
Apple has faced increasing antitrust scrutiny globally. In April, European Union regulators fined the company €500 million for violating competition rules by restricting developers from directing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.
Last year, the EU imposed a nearly $2 billion penalty for allegedly favouring its own music streaming service over competitors like Spotify.
A federal judge in the US recently ruled that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite.
As of Tuesday morning, Apple’s top app rankings featured TikTok, Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube, and Bumble, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in seventh place.
Neither X nor Grok appeared in the “Must Have” recommendations, with Musk’s remarks highlighting the intensifying competition in the AI market.
