Elon Musk sues Apple and ChatGPT creators

Austin. Tech billionaire Elon Musk is dragging Apple and ChatGPT creator OpenAI to court because his own AI chatbot, Grok, is allegedly being discriminated against. Musk's AI company, xAI, claims in the lawsuit filed in Texas that the iPhone company is hindering other chatbots in order to give ChatGPT an advantage. Apple responded to Musk's initial threat of legal action two weeks ago, saying the company's App Store is designed to be fair and not favor anyone.

Last year, Apple launched a collaboration with OpenAI, allowing users of iPhones and other devices to submit queries directly to ChatGPT. According to the company, other AI chatbots could eventually be integrated in this way. In the lawsuit, xAI complains that Grok's direct connection to ChatGPT is causing it to miss out on valuable user interactions. This makes it more difficult to improve the software with artificial intelligence, while OpenAI has an advantage.

From xAI's perspective, Apple is a monopolist in the US smartphone market with a 65 percent share, and OpenAI holds a monopoly in AI chatbots with 80 percent. This is the basis for accusing them of anti-competitive behavior. The lawsuit seeks damages and a ban on the current cooperation.

OpenAI responded by filing a lawsuit against Musk for harassment. The ChatGPT inventor also referred to this in his statement on the tech billionaire's legal action. "This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk's ongoing pattern of harassment," OpenAI stated.

Musk is already involved in a lengthy legal dispute with OpenAI and accuses company CEO Sam Altman of trying to illegally restructure the ChatGPT development company.

RND/dpa/AP