Dallas: US billionaire Elon Musk's two companies, social media firm X and AI startup xAI, sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, accusing them of an "anticompetitive scheme" to "thwart" artificial intelligence competitors. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to Anadolu Agency, the two companies claimed that Apple and OpenAI "colluded" to maintain monopolies in the smartphone and generative AI markets. The complaint accuses Apple of favoring OpenAI by integrating its ChatGPT chatbot into Apple devices while downgrading rivals' generative AI chatbots, such as xAI's Grok, in App Store rankings.

The lawsuit argues that without court intervention, Apple and OpenAI will continue to hinder competition, causing ongoing harm to competitors like Musk's firms. Last year, Apple and OpenAI collaborated to include ChatGPT in a variety of Apple products, enhancing its presence in the market.

Following the announcement of Apple and OpenAI's alliance, competing chatbot applications such as DeepSeek and Perplexity were reportedly ranked No. 1 on the App Store, as noted by users responding to Musk's post on X using its Community Notes function.

This legal action marks the latest chapter in the ongoing conflict between Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, left the company in 2018 over differing visions. Last year, Musk also sued Altman and OpenAI for allegedly prioritizing business interests over the company's original mission.