AI Plot Twist: Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s Chatbots ‘Dump’ Them, Grok Sides with Altman, ChatGPT Picks Musk

The public clash between OpenAI chief Sam Altman and xAI founder Elon Musk escalated in an unexpected direction after their AI chatbots appeared to take opposing sides in a debate over Apple’s App Store practices and platform manipulation claims.

The dispute reignited when Musk accused Apple of anti-competitive favoritism toward OpenAI’s ChatGPT in App Store rankings and curation, calling it an “unequivocal antitrust violation,” and threatening immediate legal action through xAI. Apple has pushed back, saying the App Store is “fair and free of bias,” with rankings and features driven by charts, algorithms, and expert-curated lists based on objective criteria.

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Altman fired back at Musk on X, calling Musk’s allegation “remarkable” in light of what he said he had heard about Musk allegedly manipulating X’s algorithms to advantage his own interests and disadvantage rivals.

• Grok’s unexpected verdict: In screenshots shared on X, a user asked Grok, “Who is right, Sam Altman or Elon Musk?” Grok sided with Altman, asserting there is “verified evidence” Musk has influenced X’s algorithm for self-benefit, and arguing Musk’s Apple claim is weakened by other AI apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity reaching the App Store’s top ranks in 2025, before concluding: “Hypocrisy noted.”
  
• ChatGPT’s answer: Musk posted a screenshot showing ChatGPT responding “Elon Musk” to a prompt asking who is more trustworthy between Altman and Musk, a choice that quickly fed into the online back-and-forth.

Musk condemned Grok’s reply as making “false defamatory statements” and criticized the model for giving “too much credibility to legacy media sources,” calling the behavior a “major problem” and promising engineering changes, while pledging a longer rebuttal.

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Amid the broader dispute, Apple has publicly denied any favoritism toward OpenAI in App Store placement, emphasizing safety, curation, and objective criteria, even as Musk points to editorial features and category spotlights that have helped keep ChatGPT atop the charts; Apple’s response followed his threat to sue over alleged suppression of Grok and exclusion of X and Grok from “Must Have” lists.