“I’d like to sue someone please!”

Well, by the looks of it… Elon Musk rolled out of bed after a late-night Diablo IV grind, grabbed his phone, checked the Apple App Store rankings… and there it was. ChatGPT, sitting all smug at No. 1, like it owned the place. And that’s when he decided… yeah, I’m gonna f’up someone’s entire day.

This time, the target is Apple, and the charge is about as predictable as the Happy Gilmore sequel: Musk says Tim Cook’s crew is stacking the deck so hard in OpenAI’s favor that no other AI app, including Grok, has a real shot.

On X (because where else would this play out?), Musk went full Louis Litt and posted:

“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. xAI will take immediate legal action.” (hits send).

Translation: “Tim Cook Apple, grab your lawyers. Tesla Claus just found coal in his stocking.”

Now, of course, this goes way past App Store rankings and Grok being listed behind Candy Crush Saga 28… this is another juicy chapter in Musk’s neverending feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The two were supposed to be AI’s Batman and Robin back in 2015, but by 2018 Musk bailed (after his bid to buy the company got denied), and ever since, he’s been in a rap feud that would rival Drake and Kendrick Lamar. His favorite accusation (he always finds a way back to) is that OpenAI went from a “for humanity” non-profit to Microsoft’s $90 billion corporate pet.

Well now, Apple’s practically braiding friendship bracelets and getting BFF tats with OpenAI, baking ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs like it’s the new iMessage. Meanwhile, Grok (Musk’s own chatbot baby) managed to claw its way into the U.S. App Store’s top 5 free apps. But according to Musk, it’s been totally iced out of Apple’s “Must-Have Apps” section… which, coincidentally, gives ChatGPT top billing and even a direct link to its new GPT-5 model.

Musk’s public question to Apple was about as rhetorical as it gets:

“Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?”

And as you’d imagine, Apple’s answer so far is: read receipt: left on delivered.

The timing is deliciously petty. OpenAI dropped GPT-5 last week. Musk dropped Grok 4 last month. And now we’ve got a billionaire d*ck measuring competition over whose app gets the prime shelf space in Apple’s digital store.

(Source: ABC News)

This also comes as Apple’s already under fire from regulators… the DOJ sued them last year for allegedly running a monopoly on the iPhone ecosystem, and the EU hit them with a $570 million fine for restricting developers. So when Musk yells “antitrust!” it’s not entirely coming out of nowhere.

Luckily for all of us… Sam Altman wasted no time firing back, basically calling Musk a hypocrite:

“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…”

In other words: “Nice antitrust outrage, bro. How’s that algorithm treating your enemies?”

With all that said, Musk’s legal threats may or may not hold water… the “Must-Have Apps” section is curated by Apple, not a ranked algorithm, which gives them wiggle room. But if Musk actually files, this could turn into a full-blown tech trial that drags Apple, OpenAI, and xAI into the same courtroom.

And you can’t tell me that wouldn’t be must-see TV. Can you imagine Musk cross-examining Tim Cook while Altman smirks in the gallery (honestly, it could rival the Amber Heard–Johnny Depp trial… you know, the moment her own lawyer objected to his own question and the judge looked like she wanted to just walk out).

Until then, Grok’s still hanging out at No. 5, ChatGPT’s still king at No. 1, and Tim Cook’s legal team is probably drafting a “we value competition” press release while discreetly topping off their bourbon (and maybe setting Musk’s contact name in their phones to Do Not Answer).

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla as mentioned in the article.