Musk Just Delivered a Ringing Endorsement of the iPhone's Staying Power

It's hard to tell these days how much fire is in Musk's belly to fight Apple's perceived injustices

- TIM HIGGINS

For all of the talk in Silicon Valley about how screwed Apple is in the AI race, the iPhone maker got a glowing endorsement of its staying power this past week from an unlikely source: Elon Musk.

The billionaire's artificial-intelligence company and his social-media platform sued the iPhone maker, claiming it was violating antitrust laws by giving preferential treatment to its own AI partner (and Musk enemy), OpenAI and ChatGPT.

"This makes it hard for competitors of ChatGPT's generative AI chatbot and super apps powered by generative AI chatbots to scale and innovate," said the lawsuit, filed by Musk's xAI and X in a Texas federal court.

That is at odds with a prevailing view in Silicon Valley. Meta Platforms chief Mark Zuckerberg and others believe that advanced AI will usher in a new computing paradigm that basically relegates the iPhone to something akin to a Computer History Museum exhibit. They see it as a rare generational opening to unseat Apple's hold as the gateway to the digital world.

A one-sided cold war has been brewing between Musk and Apple chief Tim Cook ever since the Tesla and SpaceX CEO acquired Twitter in late 2022. Musk quickly realized how powerful App Store rules are for companies like his.

If Musk thought the paperwork to launch Starship was frustrating, he had obviously never waded through Apple's app-review process.

Opponents of Apple's control of the App Economy watched with glee as Musk lashed out at Apple and Cook personally. They quietly hoped Elon's megaphone and megabucks might help their cause in fighting the tech giant.

His entry into the antitrust battle against Apple held the promise of fueling new excitement in legislation that was then stalled before Congress. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, in particular, seemed eager to make hay of his interest.