Chicago, Illinois Aug 12, 2025 (Issuewire.com) - The ongoing feud between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk shows no signs of cooling down. In the latest exchange, Altman publicly criticized Musk after the Tesla chief posted on X, accusing Apple of anti-competitive practices. Responding to Musk’s remarks, Altman accused him of using his social media platform, X, to push personal agendas rather than acting impartially. This is the latest in a series of public jabs between the two tech leaders, whose rivalry has only grown sharper in recent months. The timing of the spat is notable, as OpenAI’s ChatGPT currently holds the top spot on the US App Store’s “Top Free Apps” list. Meanwhile, Musk’s Grok sits in fifth place, and Google’s Gemini lags far behind at #57. The competition between these AI platforms appears to be adding fuel to the personal and professional tensions between Altman and Musk.
The recent feud started after a post by Musk where the Tesla CEO openly accused Apple of favoritism towards OpenAI. Musk claimed that Apple is manipulating rankings on the Apple store to make sure that OpenAI always has the number one spot. “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.” Then Musk went ahead to threaten legal action against in the following line of the post. “xAI will take immediate legal action.”
Musk has not provided any evidence to support his claims, and none of the companies involved have issued official statements on the matter. According to Sensor Tower data shared by Reuters, ChatGPT holds the top spot on the US iPhone “Top Free Apps” chart, while xAI’s Grok ranks fifth, and Google Gemini sits below the 57th position. It has also been confirmed that ChatGPT appears in the Apple App Store’s Must-Have Apps section.
Then Sam Altman entered the conversation, quoted Musk’s tweet, and laid out his side of the accusations as well. Sam wrote, “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.”
The clash between Sam Altman and Elon Musk has sparked a wave of reactions online. Some users have taken sides, while others have shifted the conversation toward AI as a whole. One user on X commented, “Who's going to tell Elon that GTP5 is 10X better than Grok?” while another one said, “This wouldn’t surprise me at all. Rock n roll, Elon!” A third comment read, “Is it me? I feel like Grok always treats Android as 2nd class compared to Apple,” while the fourth one says, “Lol, how is this where we’ve arrived… all the people controlling our data suing each other over who gets more access to our data… for free.”
Elon Musk and Sam Altman have traded public jabs before. Musk was a co-founder who left OpenAI. Since then, the world’s richest man has maintained a long-running feud with the company after launching his own AI venture, xAI.
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