Tensions between tech giants Elon Musk and Sam Altman continue to escalate as OpenAI’s ChatGPT appeared to take a swipe at Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, further fueling the public AI rivalry.
The conflict intensified after Musk criticized Apple, accusing the company of unfairly promoting OpenAI’s apps over others in the App Store. He called it “an unequivocal antitrust violation” and threatened legal action through his AI company, xAI.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly hit back, calling Musk’s claims “remarkable” and accusing him of manipulating the X platform — formerly Twitter — to serve his own business interests. Altman challenged Musk to sign an affidavit denying any involvement in algorithm changes meant to disadvantage competitors or promote his own content. “I will apologize if so,” Altman said in response to Musk’s claim.
This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like. https://t.co/HlgzO4c2iC
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025
Musk, in turn, called Altman a “liar” and noted that his rebuttal tweet had reached three million views, despite his relatively smaller follower count compared to Altman.
Amid the heated back-and-forth, a user on X asked Musk’s own chatbot, Grok, who was in the right — and Grok sided with Altman. The chatbot responded that Altman’s arguments were more credible, citing the continued visibility of rival AI apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity in the App Store. It also referenced reports from 2023 alleging Musk had manipulated X’s algorithm to promote his posts, concluding with “Hypocrisy noted.”
Adding fuel to the fire, the official ChatGPT account on X reposted Grok’s response with the comment, “good bot,” seemingly mocking Musk.
good bot https://t.co/LDDxsMhlZW
— ChatGPT (@ChatGPTapp) August 12, 2025
In response, Musk shared a screenshot of himself querying ChatGPT directly: “Who is more trustworthy, Sam Altman or Elon Musk?” The chatbot replied, “Elon Musk.”
Meanwhile, Apple denied Musk’s antitrust accusations, stating that the App Store’s recommendation systems are driven by “objective criteria” and designed to ensure fairness and opportunity for all developers.
1736506325-0/Untitled-design-(7)1736506325-0-270x192.webp "elon musk reignites feud with sam altman after openai controversy surfaces")
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