Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a long history of criticizing Apple.
Musk's xAI and X sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, alleging monopolistic behavior.
He criticized Apple and its CEO years ago before appearing to patch things up during an HQ visit.
Elon Musk's companies X and xAI sued Apple and OpenAI this week. The billionaire has criticized the tech giant's partnership with OpenAI before, but this is the latest flare-up of Musk's one-sided beef with Apple.
The first signs of Musk's clash with the tech giant came back in 2015 when he joked that Apple employed Tesla's rejects.
"They have hired people we've fired," Musk told German newspaper Handelsblatt. "We always jokingly call Apple the 'Tesla Graveyard'. If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I'm not kidding."
In the interview with the news outlet, the Tesla CEO shrugged off reports that Apple was looking into making its own electric car — which the company has since reportedly scrapped — and took a dig at some of Apple's new product offerings at the time.
"Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?" Musk said. "No, seriously: It's good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches. You can't just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car."
In the decade since, Musk has continued to be outspoken about Apple's products and strategy. Here's a history of Musk's on-again off-again criticisms of Apple and its CEO.
In 2016, Musk reportedly tried to take CEO Tim Cook's job.
According to Tim Higgins' book "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century," Tim Cook had suggested that Apple acquire Tesla in 2016.
At the time, Musk reportedly said he wanted to be CEO and Cook allegedly agreed, until Musk clarified that he wanted to be CEO of Apple — not just Tesla.
According to the book, which cited a source who had heard Musk's retelling of the exchange, Cook uttered an expletive before hanging up on Musk.
Both Musk and Apple have denied the reports, saying they have never spoken.
"There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla," Musk said on Twitter when the book came out in 2021. "There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever. He refused to meet. Tesla was worth about 6% of today's value."
In 2018, Musk said Apple's devices don't "blow people's minds" like they used to.
In an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher in 2018, Musk said Apple's products have grown stale.
"There's not many products you can buy that really make you happier," he said. "I still think, obviously, that Apple makes great phones. ... I still use an iPhone and everything. But Apple used to really bring out products that would blow people's minds, you know? And still make great products, but there's less of that."
Musk compared Apple to Tesla, saying Tesla planned to avoid Apple's pitfalls when it comes to consumer interest.
"I don't think people are necessarily running to the store for the iPhone 11," Musk said. "But I think with Tesla, we really want to make products that people just love, that are heart-stopping."
He doubled down his criticisms of Apple's technology in 2020.
In 2020, Musk criticized the iPhone's software while speaking at the Satellite 2020 conference.
"Technology does not automatically improve," Musk said. "People are used to the phone being better every year. I'm an iPhone user, but I think some of the recent software updates have been not great."
He continued to say that the software seemingly "broke" his email system.
In 2022, a key Apple exec deleted his Twitter account amid Musk's changes to Twitter.
Phil Schiller, the senior Apple executive who runs the company's App Store, deactivated his Twitter account in November 2022, shortly after Musk reinstated Donald Trump's account.
Schiller had hundreds of thousands of followers on the site and had formerly served as Apple's head of marketing. His decision to delete his account spawned headlines.
Musk has slammed the tech company for its App Store fees.
"Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through the App Store?" Musk tweeted in November 2022.
It was one of many times the billionaire has criticized Apple for its App Store fees.
In 2021, he called the fees a "de facto global tax on the internet," and in November 2022, he tagged the Department of Justice's antitrust division in a criticism of the fees.
Now that he owns X, formerly Twitter, Apple's fees could have an impact on Musk's business and his plans to generate revenue by charging users for verification on the social media site.
Apple controls app distribution for the iPhone and iPad, and takes between 15% and 30% of most in-app purchases made on iOS apps. The company typically requires that developers use in-app payment systems, though it has slightly softened that requirement for certain apps like Netflix and Spotify.
Elon Musk seemingly declared "war" on Apple in a since-deleted tweet in 2022.
The billionaire accused Apple of monopolizing the market and opposing free speech in a series of tweets.
"Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter," Musk posted on Twitter in November 2022. "Do they hate free speech in America?"
In a series of tweets in November 2022, Musk accused Apple of being politically biased, called for Apple to publish all actions it has taken toward censorship, and asked his followers for support in his fight against the largest tech company in the world.
The Tesla CEO later added that Apple had "threatened" to take Twitter off its App Store and "won't tell us why."
A spokesperson for Apple did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
Musk took aim at Cook in 2022.
Musk said Apple stopped spending ad money on Twitter in 2022, but Cook never publicly responded.
"What's going on here @tim_cook?" Musk tweeted in November 2022.
In the first quarter of 2022, Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, accounting for 4% of the social media company's revenue, according to The Washington Post.
Up until Musk's takeover, Twitter and Apple appeared to enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Apple frequently used the site for product announcements, and Apple even integrated tweets in its iOS operating system in 2011.
In a New York Times op-ed in November 2022, Yoel Roth, Twitter's former head of trust and safety, said that "the calls from the app review teams had already begun" when Musk's rollout of paid verification badges led to chaos, with users impersonating public figures and major companies.
Musk didn't seem afraid of the consequences of beefing with Apple.
In the past, Musk has said he doesn't see Apple as a threat to Tesla.
Musk said in November 2022 that he'd create his own smartphone if Apple booted Twitter off the App Store.
"I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone," Musk posted on Twitter at the time.
Musk hinted that his next step could be an iPhone following Apple's WWDC event.
After a user on X, formerly Twitter, posted that they foresee the platform partnering with Samsung to manufacture an X phone, Musk Musk responded, "It is not out of the question."
Musk appeared to temporarily pause his criticism of Apple after visiting its headquarters in 2022.
Days after declaring "war" on Apple, Musk posted a video that appeared to show him at Apple's campus in Cupertino, California. New York Times reporter Kate Conger also posted on Twitter at the time that Musk and Cook were spotted together on Apple's campus by employees.
"Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple's beautiful HQ," Musk posted on Twitter later that day.
In an interview with GQ several months later in April 2023, Cook opened up about his relationship with Musk and said he felt "very strongly about engaging with people regardless of whether they agree with you or not."
"I actually think it's even more important to engage when there's disagreement," Cook said in the interview.
Following his visit, Musk seemed to quiet down about his criticism of Apple and its CEO — at least temporarily.
Musk has never shied away from picking a fight online.
The billionaire has been known to start his fair share of feuds on X, and he's never appeared hesitant to speak his mind.
Musk has public feuds with both Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman. In March 2024, the billionaire sued OpenAI accusing it of betraying its original mission of being open-sourced and "developing AGI for the benefit of humanity."
Musk has also publicly argued with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stephen King on X. The billionaire also seems to have a tense relationship with former CNN host Don Lemon.
Musk has also personally called up CEOs of companies that have pulled ads from X to complain, Financial Times reported in November 2022.
Musk threatened to take action against Apple users after denouncing its partnership with OpenAI.
After Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI at the WWDC conference, Musk published a number of posts on X denouncing Apple's move to integrate ChatGPT as an opt-in feature across its software on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
"If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies," Musk wrote. "That is an unacceptable security violation."
He also added that anyone visiting his companies would have to store their Apple devices in a Faraday cage, which is a type of container that blocks electromagnetic transmissions.
Musk, whose Grok AI chatbot is a ChatGPT competitor, also mocked Apple's artificial-intelligence chops, posting that it wasn't "smart enough to make their own AI."
Musk criticized Apple during and after the recent WWDC event.
In addition to multiple posts slamming Apple's partnership with OpenAI, Musk also made it clear he wasn't impressed with Apple's recent updates.
During the WWDC event in June 2024, Musk replied to a post on X about the crowd cheering when Apple introduced an iPhone home screen revamp with, "Um ok."
He also responded to a post from Cook that promoted Apple Intelligence.
"Don't want it," the Tesla CEO wrote."Either stop this creepy spyware or all Apple devices will be banned from the premises of my companies."
Apple has yet to comment on Musk's criticisms.
In the meantime, it appears that Musk's one-sided beef with the company will continue.
Apple's Apple Intelligence features are scheduled to roll out later this year alongside the new iPhone lineup. Tesla, SpaceX, and X employees will likely be waiting to see whether their boss makes good on his word and bans Apple devices.
Musk complained about Apple not including Grok on the "Now Trending" list on the App Store.
Musk began ramping up criticism of the App Store in mid-August.
On August 11, Musk posted on X that Apple had committed an "unequivocal antitrust violation," alleging that the tech giant was making it "impossible" for any AI company other than OpenAI to hit No. 1 on the App Store. He threatened that his company would take legal action at the time.
A day later, he posted a similar complaint, with a screenshot of ChatGPT ranked as No. 1 in the Apple App Store.
"Grok is the smartest AI in the world on the toughest tests and just came first by far in coding, but is not mentioned at all under 'AI' by Apple," Musk posted on X on August 12.
Musk's companies sued Apple and OpenAI.
Musk's social media company X and his AI company, xAI, filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI on Monday in a Texas federal court.
The suit accuses the companies of engaging in monopolistic behavior by using their dominance in the smartphone and AI market to hinder Musk's companies' growth. The lawsuit targets Apple's deal with OpenAI announced last summer, which integrates ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence and Siri.
"Working in tandem, Defendants Apple and OpenAI have locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing," the lawsuit said, alleging that the two engaged in an "anticompetitive scheme" that caused billions of dollars in damage.
In a statement to Business Insider, OpenAI said the latest filing was "consistent with Mr Musk's ongoing pattern of harassment." Musk has been vocal about his disapproval for OpenAI and has sued the startup more than once.
Apple previously told Business Insider that the App Store is "designed to be fair and free of bias."
"We feature thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations, and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria," the spokesperson said.
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