Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI, alleging their Siri–ChatGPT integration unlawfully throttles AI competition on the iPhone.

The complaint argues the 2024 deal makes ChatGPT “the only generative AI chatbot with a first-party integration into Apple’s smartphones [thus granting OpenAI] exclusive access to billions of potential prompts.”

Musk claims Apple has manipulated App Store rankings and delayed updates that affect Grok. He also observed that Apple’s rollout of ‘Apple Intelligence’ has faltered.

OpenAI appears unconcerned and has called the filing “consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment”.

Apple didn’t comment but it has previously insisted the App Store is designed to be “fair and free of bias”.

Apple announced at its WWDC 2024 developer conference that Siri would be able to pass certain user queries directly to ChatGPT, with user permission, as part of its new ‘Apple Intelligence’ features.

You could soon have options other than ChatGPT on iPhone

The integration began rolling out later that year across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Apple has also been in talks with Google about running a Gemini model for Siri on Apple’s servers, a move that could blunt exclusivity claims by adding another provider.

Musk’s suit deliberately echoes the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 antitrust case accusing Apple of maintaining a smartphone monopoly and stifling “super apps.”

A super app is a mobile platform, common in Asia, that integrates multiple services such as payments, messaging, and shopping inside a single interface, potentially reducing dependence on Apple’s ecosystem.

For iPhone owners, nothing will change anytime soon.

But if a court forces Apple to open first-party hooks to multiple AI models, iOS could shift from a single favoured chatbot to a model marketplace, giving consumers more choice and developers clearer routes to distribution.

Conversely, if Apple prevails, or adds partners like Gemini on its own timeline, it will underscore Cupertino’s argument that tight integration equals better privacy and reliability – even if rivals cry foul.