ChatGPT is still sitting high in Apple's App Store, a fact now being used against Elon Musk's claim that Apple and OpenAI conspired to keep Grok down.
Ashley Belanger reported for Ars Technica in August 2025 that Musk sued Apple and OpenAI after complaining publicly about Grok's placement in the App Store. Musk, who owns X and xAI, had focused on ChatGPT's repeated appearance at the top of Apple's editorially selected "Must Have" app list, a list Grok had not made, according to Ars.
Ars reported that Musk's complaint went beyond bruised app-chart vanity. The filing said Apple and OpenAI had joined forces in a way that threatened Musk's plan to turn X into an "everything app," the broader strategy Ars described as central to his purchase of Twitter.
The App Store surfaces at issue are different. Apple's editorial lists are curated by Apple. Download charts rank apps by activity in the store. Musk's allegation, as described by Daring Fireball, extends to the download charts as well as the curated placements.
Daring Fireball checked Apple's editorially curated "Popular iPhone Apps" list and found ChatGPT in the first slot. The site argued that Apple's own legal clash with OpenAI makes a favoritism theory harder to square with the available facts: Apple sued OpenAI last week, according to Daring Fireball, yet ChatGPT still appears at the top of that curated Apple list.
Daring Fireball also listed the current top 10 free iPhone app downloads in the U.S. App Store as follows:
- Paramount+
- Netflix Game Controller
- ChatGPT
- Kalshi: Trade the World Cup
- Peacock TV: Stream TV & Movies
- Netshort - Popular Dramas & TV
- Threads
- TikTok Pro - Events
- Freecash - Get Paid Real Money
- Depop - Buy & Sell Clothes
On that download list, ChatGPT is third. It is also the only AI app in the group, according to Daring Fireball's check.
Daring Fireball characterized Musk's chart-rigging allegation as projection, pointing to Musk's control over Twitter/X and arguing that he has boosted his own account and politically aligned accounts there. That is commentary, not a court finding. The confirmed pieces are narrower: Musk sued Apple and OpenAI, his complaint targets App Store treatment of Grok and ChatGPT, ChatGPT remains prominent in both a curated Apple list and the U.S. free-download chart, and Apple has also sued OpenAI.
Those facts do not resolve Musk's case. They do put pressure on the simplest version of his theory, which asks a court to believe Apple is secretly favoring OpenAI at the same time Apple is litigating against it.
This story draws on original reporting from Daring Fireball.