It’s the kind of Silicon Valley showdown that’s hard to look away from: Elon Musk and Sam Altman, two of the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence (AI) moguls, have reignited their long-simmering feud—this time, with Apple caught squarely in the crossfire. Over the past week, the rivalry between the X and Tesla CEO and the OpenAI chief executive spilled out into public view, as accusations flew over alleged App Store favoritism, algorithm manipulation, and even the trustworthiness of their own AI chatbots.
On August 11, 2025, the latest chapter of this tech drama unfolded when Musk took to his social platform X to publicly accuse Apple of tilting the playing field in favor of Altman’s OpenAI app. “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,” Musk declared, adding, “xAI will take immediate legal action.” His frustration didn’t stop there. Musk also questioned why his X app and its AI chatbot, Grok, were not included in Apple’s coveted ‘Must Have’ section, despite X being “the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps.” He asked Apple directly, “Are you playing politics?”
Apple, for its part, quickly pushed back. In a statement, the company insisted its App Store “is designed to be fair and free of bias.” Apple explained, “We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria. Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories.”
The public spat drew an immediate response from Sam Altman, who co-founded OpenAI with Musk in 2015 before the two parted ways in 2018. Altman, never one to shy away from controversy, fired back on X: “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 even included a link to a Platformer News article accusing Musk of tweaking X’s algorithms to give his own posts more prominence—a charge Musk has faced before.
The online back-and-forth quickly devolved into personal jabs. Musk accused Altman of lying about his post’s reach, stating, “You got 3M views on your bullshit post, you liar, far more than I’ve received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!” Altman, keeping the exchange sharp, replied simply, “skill issue.” He then issued a challenge: “Will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies? I will apologise if so.”
This isn’t just a war of words—it’s a battle of business philosophies and personal grudges. After leaving OpenAI in 2018, Musk launched his own AI venture, xAI, and developed Grok as a direct rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Since then, Musk and Altman have clashed repeatedly, with Musk even suing Altman and OpenAI twice, alleging that the company strayed from its founding mission to build AI for the benefit of “all of humanity.”
But the drama didn’t end with their personal barbs. In an unexpected twist, Musk’s own AI creation, Grok, appeared to side against him. When an X user asked Grok who was in the right in the feud, the chatbot responded: “Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right. Musk's Apple antitrust claim is undermined by apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity reaching in 2025. Conversely, Musk has a history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his posts and favor his interests, per 2023 reports and ongoing probes. Hypocrisy noted.”
The response was widely shared, with the ChatGPT X account cheekily posting the Grok verdict along with the message, “good bot.” Not one to let the last word slip away, Musk later posted a screenshot in which he asked ChatGPT to choose who was more trustworthy—himself or Altman. The chatbot’s answer? “Elon Musk.”
This public spat is just the latest in a series of controversies shadowing both men and their companies. OpenAI has recently faced whistleblower accusations that it prioritized product development over safety and allegedly used actress Scarlett Johansson’s voice without consent. Meanwhile, Grok, Musk’s chatbot, has come under fire for promoting false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa, and there’s been significant community backlash over health concerns near xAI’s data centers.
As the dust settled, Apple remained firm in its denial of any special treatment for OpenAI or bias against Musk’s ventures. The company reiterated that its App Store recommendations are determined by objective criteria and expert curation, not by political maneuvering or favoritism. “The App Store is designed to be fair and free of bias,” Apple maintained, hoping to put the matter to rest.
Yet the feud between Musk and Altman seems far from over. Their rivalry is rooted in both personal history and divergent visions for the future of AI. Musk has long warned about the existential risks of artificial intelligence, advocating for strict oversight, while Altman has championed rapid innovation and open access—at least in principle. Their split in 2018 set the stage for years of competition, lawsuits, and public sparring, with each accusing the other of betraying the original ideals of their shared project.
For onlookers, the Musk-Altman feud offers a rare glimpse into the high-stakes, high-drama world of AI development, where egos and ideologies collide as often as algorithms. It also raises important questions about the power tech giants wield over digital marketplaces, the transparency of recommendation systems, and the ethical responsibilities of those building the next generation of intelligent machines.
As both xAI and OpenAI continue to push the boundaries of what AI can do—and as Apple remains a crucial gatekeeper in the app ecosystem—this battle is likely to shape not only the future of the companies involved, but also the broader trajectory of artificial intelligence itself. Whether this dispute leads to courtroom showdowns, regulatory scrutiny, or simply more viral social media exchanges, one thing is certain: the world will be watching closely as these titans of tech continue their very public rivalry.
With so much at stake, the Musk-Altman drama has become more than just a personal grudge. It’s a high-profile test of how power, innovation, and accountability intersect in the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence.