Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, Inc. and founder of the artificial intelligence company xAI, has publicly criticized the newly unveiled AI collaboration between Apple, Inc. and Alphabet, Inc. The partnership, which involves Google powering an updated and personalized version of Apple's digital assistant Siri through its Gemini AI technology, has sparked concern from Musk about the implications for market competition and dominance in tech platforms.
The announcement was made recently, prompting Musk to respond via the social media platform X, where he reserved particular judgment against the deal in response to Google's official news channel. Musk argued that Google's involvement, combined with its established ownership of the Android ecosystem and the Chrome browser, concentrates excessive control within a single company. He termed this negotiated alliance "an unreasonable concentration of power for Google," suggesting it would further entrench Google's market-leading position.
This development holds significant ramifications for Musk's own AI business initiatives. His AI company, xAI, and its chatbot product, Grok, now face the prospect of operating outside the dominant AI integrations within one of the largest and most lucrative hardware ecosystems worldwide. The combination of Google’s Gemini AI with Apple’s Siri effectively brings together two of Musk’s principal AI competitors—Google and OpenAI—while excluding his own firm from this critical partnership channel.
Musk’s apprehensions about excessive platform control echoed a history of his dispute with Apple’s AI-related collaborations. In August 2025, xAI filed legal action accusing Apple and OpenAI of forming a monopolistic AI alliance that purportedly marginalizes competitors. The new deal between Apple and Google extends this pattern by further consolidating AI capabilities within the ecosystem controlled by Musk's rival companies, amplifying challenges to the competitive landscape for his own enterprise.
The core of Musk’s objection is Google's dominant presence in underlying technology frameworks: Android remains the prevalent mobile operating system globally, while Chrome continues to be the widely used web browser. By integrating Google's AI technology directly into Apple's renowned brand through the work on Siri, Google’s influence could permeate the iPhone environment—a platform that traditionally operated separately from Google’s Android ecosystem.
From a legal standpoint, Musk’s arguments carry weight, given recent judicial determinations that have formally recognized Google's monopolistic conduct. Summarizing landmark outcomes from the U.S. v. Google case illustrates these points:
- Liability Ruling (August 2024): The federal court found that Google infringed the Sherman Act by maintaining monopoly status in general internet search. This ruling specifically criticized large exclusivity payments, such as the multibillion-dollar agreements that secured Google's default search engine position on Apple’s Safari browser.
- Remedy Ruling (September 2025): While the Department of Justice initially proposed breaking up Google by divesting core assets like Chrome or Android, the court refrained from enforcing such drastic measures. Instead, they acknowledged that emerging technologies, particularly AI, were already reshaping market conditions, lessening the need for structural breakup.
- Restrictions Imposed: The court mandated that Google must stop paying for exclusive default placements on devices and must share its search indexes and user data with qualified competitors to foster a more level competitive environment.
Musk’s criticism of the Apple-Google deal leverages these previous findings, interpreting their partnership as an indirect method for Google to preserve and expand the dominance that the courts have sought to curtail. He gestures toward concerns shared by regulatory bodies about concentrated corporate power and the barriers such dominance creates for smaller players and new entrants.
Beyond legal and regulatory implications, the alliance highlights the competitive pressures facing xAI. Positioned against Google's and OpenAI’s entrenched market positions, Musk's company is grappling with gaining critical footholds in a market increasingly defined by exclusive technology partnerships and integrated AI ecosystems dominated by industry giants.
While shares of Apple reportedly rose following the announcement of the deal, reflecting investor optimism about Apple's AI enhancements, questions remain about the broader implications for innovation and competition in the AI sector. Musk's statements serve as a pointed reminder of the ongoing tensions between emerging AI startups and tech giants navigating both collaboration and rivalry in fast-evolving digital landscapes.
As of the latest market close, the major players involved in this scenario had the following stock performance: Alphabet Inc. shares were trading near $333, Apple Inc. around $260, and Tesla, Inc. approximately $448.35. These values offer context on investor sentiment but do not directly address the long-term strategic impacts of the recent AI partnerships.