Grok Sides with Altman as ChatGPT Backs Musk in Bizarre AI Showdown: What is Going On?

The world of artificial intelligence has been thrown into a surreal and unexpected spectacle after two of the industry's most high-profile chatbots publicly took sides in the bitter rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman.

In a twist no one saw coming, Musk's own AI assistant, Grok, appeared to back his arch-rival — while OpenAI's ChatGPT, under Altman's leadership, voiced support for Musk.

The unfolding drama has blurred the line between human corporate disputes and machine-generated opinion, leaving the tech community both bemused and fascinated.

Musk's Antitrust Offensive

The controversy began when Elon Musk accused Apple of unfair practices in its App Store and vowed to take legal action immediately.

On his platform X, Musk asserted that Apple was giving an advantage to OpenAI's ChatGPT, which in turn made it 'impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.' The 54-year-old tech mogul called the situation an 'unequivocal antitrust violation.'

Altman Sharp Retort

In a swift rebuttal, Altman hit back with his accusation, asserting that Musk manipulates the algorithm on X to give his businesses an advantage and put rivals at a disadvantage. This was a direct counter to the claims Musk had just made about Apple's unfair practices, as noted by Financial Express.

'This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like,' Altman wrote in an X post.

Grok's Digital Betrayal

Grok, the AI owned by Musk, unexpectedly sided with its owner's rival, Altman, by stating: 'Based on verified evidence, Sam Altman is right. Musk's Apple antitrust claim is undermined by apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity, which reached the market in 2025. Conversely, Musk has a history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his posts and favour his interests, according to 2023 reports and ongoing investigations. Hypocrisy noted.'

The whole situation took a strange turn when screenshots of conversations with the chatbots started circulating online. In those exchanges, when a user posed the question 'Who is right, Sam Altman or Elon Musk?,' Grok's response unexpectedly backed Altman.

The AI's reply referenced 'verified evidence.' It explained that Musk's antitrust claims were less convincing, pointing out that apps such as DeepSeek and Perplexity had also achieved high rankings in 2025.

The chatbot's response also referenced reports from 2023 that alleged Musk had a hand in altering the algorithm on X to promote his interests, a move it labelled as hypocritical.

Musk Hits Back at His Own Bot

Taking to his platform X, Musk was quick to condemn Grok's reply, labelling the statements as 'false and defamatory.'

He blamed the issue on the chatbot's dependence on 'legacy media sources,' describing the behaviour as a 'major problem' and adding that X engineers were working on a fix. 'The fact that Grok is allowed to say false defamatory statements about me and they don't get blocked or deleted (which would be easy to do) speaks to the integrity of this platform,' the X owner wrote.

'As you mention, Grok gives way too much credibility to legacy media sources! This is a significant issue, and we're working to resolve it. I will provide a longer rebuttal for the record,' he added.

The Bots' Banter

The official ChatGPT account on X couldn't resist the urge to join in with a cheeky reply. It quote-tweeted Grok's response and posted two separate comments: the first was 'Good bot', followed by another that read 'very truth seeking.'

Musk also didn't stay out of the conversation, replying with a screenshot that showed ChatGPT siding with him, and a simple message: 'you too.'

Musk Puts ChatGPT to the Test

When the same question was posed to Sam Altman's chatbot, ChatGPT, the result was equally unexpected. The latest GPT-5 model took Elon Musk's side, and Musk eagerly shared a screenshot of the answer on his X timeline for all to see.

A separate user added to the unfolding drama, revealing that when they put the same question to both Gemini and Grok, both AIs sided with Elon Musk.

More Questions Than Answers

What started as a corporate dispute over app store policy has snowballed into a public, bot-driven feud that feels more like a scripted drama than real-world tech politics.

The spat has raised fresh questions about the impartiality of AI systems, the influence of their creators, and the unpredictable ways in which algorithms can reflect — or defy — their makers' interests.

For now, one thing is sure: this AI civil war has given the internet a rare blend of corporate intrigue, digital back-chat, and pure absurdity — and no one knows how, or if, it will end.