
埃隆·马斯克与OpenAI的长期争斗迎来了一位新参与者:苹果公司。
xAI首席执行官埃隆·马斯克指控科技巨头苹果公司(Apple),称其采用不公平手段在苹果应用商店中推广OpenAI的ChatGPT,继而打压他名下公司xAI的Grok聊天机器人。苹果随后于周二发现自己成了马斯克法律威胁的最新目标。马斯克称苹果公司此举“显然违反了反垄断法”,并威胁要采取法律行动。与这位亿万富翁素有嫌隙的OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·奥尔特曼迅速介入争端,称马斯克的指控“令人震惊”。他反过来指责马斯克利用其自有平台X“为自身及其公司牟利,并损害竞争对手以及他不喜欢的人的利益”。
苹果公司否认了马斯克的指控,并在一份声明中表示,其应用商店“旨在确保公平、公正”。
苹果的一位发言人在提供给媒体的声明中表示:“我们通过排行榜、算法推荐以及由专家根据客观标准精选的榜单,向用户展示成千上万的应用程序。我们的目标是为用户提供安全的探索体验,为开发者创造宝贵的机会,并与多方合作,以提升应用在快速变化的类别中的曝光度。”
X用户和马斯克自家的Grok聊天机器人迅速指出,马斯克的指控站不住脚,因为像DeepSeek和Perplexity这样的应用此前曾登上苹果应用商店榜首。
此事或许更多与苹果和OpenAI的ChatGPT之间现有的协议有关。根据2024年年中达成的一项协议,ChatGPT以选择加入机制被集成到Siri和系统级写作工具中。Siri会在发送查询前征得用户用意;无需OpenAI账户;且苹果已表示计划逐步支持更多AI提供商。
即便如此,这种集成仍使ChatGPT在数亿台苹果设备上获得了显著的“第一方”地位,这可能使马斯克的xAI等竞争对手更难赢得用户的关注。随着谷歌将其Gemini AI融入安卓系统,移动AI市场可能越来越受到默认集成的影响,这将使xAI等竞争对手的处境更加艰难。
OpenAI与苹果的交易在宣布时似乎就触怒了这位亿万富翁。马斯克在X上抱怨道:“苹果自己不够聪明,做不出AI,却能莫名其妙地保证OpenAI会保护你的安全和隐私?这简直荒谬至极!”
马斯克进而威胁称,如果OpenAI的技术被集成到iOS操作系统中,他将禁止其公司使用所有苹果设备。
苹果的反垄断问题
苹果目前还深陷其他几起反垄断纠纷。
苹果应用商店是少数几个关键应用程序分发平台之一。任何能在该平台上获得曝光的应用,实际上就相当于获得了庞大的新用户份额,这一直是其一些竞争对手争议的焦点。
在美国,苹果应用商店的运营自2020年起就受到审查,当时Epic Games因《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)绕过苹果支付系统以规避30%佣金被应用商店下架而起诉苹果。最近,一家联邦上诉法院拒绝暂停一项源于苹果与Epic Games长期诉讼案的命令,该命令强制苹果允许开发者引导用户使用外部支付选项。
去年,美国司法部提起了一项具有里程碑意义的反垄断诉讼,指控苹果垄断智能手机市场,称其应用商店政策阻碍了新开发者并扼杀了创新。苹果否认了这些指控,称其做法促进了创新,增加了消费者的选择。今年6月,美国新泽西州地方法院驳回了苹果要求驳回该诉讼的动议。
去年8月,一位联邦法官裁定谷歌通过与苹果等公司签订独家协议等手段,非法维持其在互联网搜索领域的垄断地位。在此后司法部针对谷歌的另一起诉讼中,苹果与这家搜索巨头每年150亿至200亿美元的交易也可能面临风险。该交易使谷歌成为苹果设备上的默认搜索引擎,但可能会因法官目前正在权衡的补救措施而中断。摩根大通(JPMorgan)分析师警告称,最坏的裁决结果可能导致苹果每年损失约125亿美元。(*)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
埃隆·马斯克与OpenAI的长期争斗迎来了一位新参与者:苹果公司。
xAI首席执行官埃隆·马斯克指控科技巨头苹果公司(Apple),称其采用不公平手段在苹果应用商店中推广OpenAI的ChatGPT,继而打压他名下公司xAI的Grok聊天机器人。苹果随后于周二发现自己成了马斯克法律威胁的最新目标。马斯克称苹果公司此举“显然违反了反垄断法”,并威胁要采取法律行动。与这位亿万富翁素有嫌隙的OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·奥尔特曼迅速介入争端,称马斯克的指控“令人震惊”。他反过来指责马斯克利用其自有平台X“为自身及其公司牟利,并损害竞争对手以及他不喜欢的人的利益”。
苹果公司否认了马斯克的指控,并在一份声明中表示,其应用商店“旨在确保公平、公正”。
苹果的一位发言人在提供给媒体的声明中表示:“我们通过排行榜、算法推荐以及由专家根据客观标准精选的榜单,向用户展示成千上万的应用程序。我们的目标是为用户提供安全的探索体验,为开发者创造宝贵的机会,并与多方合作,以提升应用在快速变化的类别中的曝光度。”
X用户和马斯克自家的Grok聊天机器人迅速指出,马斯克的指控站不住脚,因为像DeepSeek和Perplexity这样的应用此前曾登上苹果应用商店榜首。
此事或许更多与苹果和OpenAI的ChatGPT之间现有的协议有关。根据2024年年中达成的一项协议,ChatGPT以选择加入机制被集成到Siri和系统级写作工具中。Siri会在发送查询前征得用户用意;无需OpenAI账户;且苹果已表示计划逐步支持更多AI提供商。
即便如此,这种集成仍使ChatGPT在数亿台苹果设备上获得了显著的“第一方”地位,这可能使马斯克的xAI等竞争对手更难赢得用户的关注。随着谷歌将其Gemini AI融入安卓系统,移动AI市场可能越来越受到默认集成的影响,这将使xAI等竞争对手的处境更加艰难。
OpenAI与苹果的交易在宣布时似乎就触怒了这位亿万富翁。马斯克在X上抱怨道:“苹果自己不够聪明,做不出AI,却能莫名其妙地保证OpenAI会保护你的安全和隐私?这简直荒谬至极!”
马斯克进而威胁称,如果OpenAI的技术被集成到iOS操作系统中,他将禁止其公司使用所有苹果设备。
苹果的反垄断问题
苹果目前还深陷其他几起反垄断纠纷。
苹果应用商店是少数几个关键应用程序分发平台之一。任何能在该平台上获得曝光的应用,实际上就相当于获得了庞大的新用户份额,这一直是其一些竞争对手争议的焦点。
在美国,苹果应用商店的运营自2020年起就受到审查,当时Epic Games因《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)绕过苹果支付系统以规避30%佣金被应用商店下架而起诉苹果。最近,一家联邦上诉法院拒绝暂停一项源于苹果与Epic Games长期诉讼案的命令,该命令强制苹果允许开发者引导用户使用外部支付选项。
去年,美国司法部提起了一项具有里程碑意义的反垄断诉讼,指控苹果垄断智能手机市场,称其应用商店政策阻碍了新开发者并扼杀了创新。苹果否认了这些指控,称其做法促进了创新,增加了消费者的选择。今年6月,美国新泽西州地方法院驳回了苹果要求驳回该诉讼的动议。
去年8月,一位联邦法官裁定谷歌通过与苹果等公司签订独家协议等手段,非法维持其在互联网搜索领域的垄断地位。在此后司法部针对谷歌的另一起诉讼中,苹果与这家搜索巨头每年150亿至200亿美元的交易也可能面临风险。该交易使谷歌成为苹果设备上的默认搜索引擎,但可能会因法官目前正在权衡的补救措施而中断。摩根大通(JPMorgan)分析师警告称,最坏的裁决结果可能导致苹果每年损失约125亿美元。(*)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
Elon Musk’s long-standing battle with OpenAI has a new participant: Apple.
On Tuesday, Apple found itself the latest target of Elon Musk’s legal threats when the xAI CEO accused the tech giant of using unfair means to promote OpenAI’s ChatGPT over his company’s rival Grok chatbot in the App Store. Musk called it an “unequivocal antitrust violation” and threatened to take legal action. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is part of an ongoing feud with the billionaire, quickly weighed in on the dispute, calling Musk’s accusation a “remarkable claim.” He, in turn, accused Musk of manipulating his own platform, X, “to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
Apple has denied Musk’s claims, saying in a statement 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,” a spokesperson said in a statement shared with news outlets. “Our goal is to offer safe discovery for users and valuable opportunities for developers, collaborating with many to increase app visibility in rapidly evolving categories.”
X users, and Musk’s own Grok chatbot, were quick to point out that Musk’s claim was undermined by apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity having previously taken the top slot on Apple’s App Store.
The issue may have more to do with Apple’s standing deal with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Under a mid-2024 deal, ChatGPT is built into Siri and system-wide writing tools on an opt-in basis. Siri asks for permission before sending queries; no OpenAI account is required; and Apple has said it plans to support additional AI providers over time.
Even so, the integration gives ChatGPT a prominent, first-party placement on hundreds of millions of Apple devices, potentially making it harder for rivals like Musk’s xAI to win users’ attention. With Google weaving its Gemini AI into Android, the mobile AI market could increasingly be shaped by default integrations, which could make it much harder for rivals like xAI to compete.
The OpenAI and Apple deal appeared to get under the billionaire’s skin when it was announced, with Musk taking to X to complain: “It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!”
Musk went on to threaten to bar all Apple devices from his companies if OpenAI technology was integrated into iOS operating systems.
Apple’s antitrust issues
Apple is currently at the center of several other antitrust battles.
Apple’s App Store is one of the few key platforms for app distribution. Whoever gets visibility there is effectively handed a huge share of new users, which has been a point of contention for some of its competitors.
In the U.S., Apple’s App Store practices have been under scrutiny since 2020 when the company was sued by Epic Games over the removal of Fortnite from the App Store for bypassing its payment system to avoid the 30% commission. A federal appeals court recently refused to pause an order from its long-running battle with Epic Games that forces Apple to allow developers to direct users to outside payment options.
Last year, the Justice Department filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market, alleging that its App Store policies block new developers and stifle innovation. Apple has denied the allegations, saying that its practices foster innovation and consumer choice. In June, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Apple’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
In a separate case brought against Google by the Justice Department, Apple’s $15 billion to $20 billion a year deal with the search giant could also be at stake after a federal judge declared in August last year that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly in internet search, partly through exclusive agreements with companies like Apple. The deal, which made Google the default search engine on its devices, could be disrupted by the remedies currently being weighed by a judge, with JPMorgan analysts warning that a worst-case ruling could cost Apple about $12.5 billion annually.
