Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence firm xAI, together with social-media parent X Corp., filed an antitrust complaint in a U.S. federal court in Texas accusing Apple and OpenAI of illegally conspiring to stifle competition in generative AI. The 61-page suit alleges the two companies formed an exclusive arrangement that gives OpenAI’s ChatGPT privileged, system-level access to hundreds of millions of iPhones while suppressing rival products, including xAI’s Grok chatbot. According to the filing, Apple’s control of the App Store and its deep integration of ChatGPT on iOS effectively "lock up" both the smartphone and AI-chatbot markets, making it “impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach No. 1” in the store’s rankings. The plaintiffs liken the arrangement to tactics challenged by U.S. regulators in other big-tech antitrust cases and say it deprives consumers of choice and developers of a level playing field. xAI and X are seeking at least $1 billion in damages and an injunction that would unwind the Apple-OpenAI partnership and bar Apple from deprioritizing competing AI apps. The suit also asks the court to impose safeguards preventing the sharing of iPhone user data with OpenAI absent explicit consent. Apple did not immediately comment on the allegations. An OpenAI spokesperson called the action part of Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment.” The complaint intensifies a widening legal battle between Musk and the Microsoft-backed AI pioneer, which already face dueling lawsuits over OpenAI’s business model and governance.