OpenAI remains entangled in Musk's antitrust lawsuit as Apple secures its own exit

Elon Musk appears to have ended his legal campaign against Apple concerning the company's decision to weave ChatGPT into iPhone features. The withdrawal marks the close of a dispute that began with sharp public criticism and grew into a formal antitrust lawsuit, one of the most high-profile clashes between a major AI developer and the world's most valuable smartphone maker.

From "Creepy Spyware" Claims to a Federal Lawsuit

The conflict traces back to 2024, when Apple first revealed its partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT into iPhone functionality. Musk responded harshly, describing the arrangement as Apple agreeing to let OpenAI place what he called "creepy spyware" on users' devices.

In 2025, that rhetoric turned into legal action. Musk filed a lawsuit arguing that the Apple-OpenAI deal created a "monopoly" over AI prompts from Apple users, a situation he claimed damaged competition in both the smartphone market and the chatbot market. The suit framed the exclusive-feeling integration as a way of sidelining rival AI companies from access to millions of iPhone owners.

App Store Ranking Dispute Escalated Tensions

For Musk, frustration with Apple intensified when he came to believe that his own chatbot, Grok, was being improperly prevented from reaching the top of Apple's App Store charts. In August of last year, he publicly accused the company of unfair conduct, writing that "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation."

That accusation added a second front to the fight, shifting the dispute from the ChatGPT integration itself to broader questions about how Apple manages visibility and rankings in its app marketplace — a topic that has drawn regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions.

What Comes Next

With Musk seemingly backing away from the attack on Apple's ChatGPT integration, attention now turns to whether any formal proceedings are fully resolved and how the Apple-OpenAI relationship evolves. Rival AI developers, including xAI's Grok, will continue pressing for prominent placement on iPhones, and regulators remain watchful of how Apple distributes AI access across its ecosystem. How Apple balances its OpenAI partnership against demands from competing chatbot makers will shape the next phase of this story.