Sam Altman hits Elon Musk with manipulation claim amid Apple App Store row

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly criticised Elon Musk after the Tesla and xAI chief accused Apple of favouring OpenAI in its App Store rankings. The exchange is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between the two tech leaders.

The dispute began when Musk claimed on X that Apple was making it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store”, calling it “an unequivocal antitrust violation” and pledging that xAI would “take immediate legal action”. His remarks appeared to be driven by the fact that OpenAI’s ChatGPT currently sits at the top of the App Store’s “Top Free Apps” list in the United States, while his own AI chatbot, Grok, is ranked fifth. Google’s Gemini, another rival, is in 57th place.

Altman responded directly to Musk’s post, suggesting the entrepreneur had manipulated X’s algorithms to benefit his own ventures and undermine competitors. “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,” he wrote. Altman also shared a news article alleging that Musk altered X’s algorithm to prioritise his own posts.

Apple, which has integrated ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs through a partnership with OpenAI, has not commented on Musk’s claims or the threat of legal action.

The confrontation underscores the strained relationship between the two executives. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI but left the company in 2018, later launching xAI as a direct competitor. Since then, he has repeatedly criticised OpenAI’s direction, while Altman has occasionally fired back — making this latest spat another public flashpoint in their rivalry.