In a statement to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple insisted the App Store "is designed to be fair and free of bias," noting that it features “thousands of apps through charts, algorithmic recommendations and curated lists selected by experts using objective criteria” to ensure safe discovery for users and opportunities for developers.

Apple has rejected accusations from Elon Musk that its App Store stifles competiton, insisting it is "designed to be free and fair of bias." X owner Musk has threatened Apple with legal action after claiming it had made it "impossible" for apps to compete with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI in the store

At the time of writing, ChatGPT is listed as Apple’s top free iPhone app in the US, with Grok ranked as the sixth. China’s DeepSeek AI briefly managed to take the top App Store position from ChatGPT in January, however, disproving Musk’s claim that it would be impossible for other AI apps to do so.