Elon Musk’s technological gangster regulations come for Apple

Elon Musk calls for another return to his investment in American politics: He threatens Apple with a trial Because neither the XAI XAI Grok was recommended on the IOS store of the app. How serious this threat is – well, that is difficult to say, because it was published between Waifus generated by Grok.

“Hey @apple app store, why do you refuse to put X or Grok in your” must have “section when X is the application of new n ° 1 in the world and Grok is # 5 among all the applications?” moaningIn a post that was briefly pinned in his profile.

Musk, the CEO of Xai and one of the greatest winners of God, is not satisfied with the way in which his applications are worn in the store. He also wants apple approval. If you are not familiar with the App Store, first of all, congratulations. But secondly, there are parties that are organized editorially, the store recommending certain applications as “essential”, as well as “choice of publishers”. Musk applications always appear on graphics – they are simply not stimulated by Apple itself on the first page of the iOS app.

Apple is, in a certain sense, splash damage in The beef during musk with Openai. “Apple behaves in a way that makes an AI company impossible in addition to OpenAi to reach No. 1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation”, “ Musk said in another post.

Now the use of an “antitrust violation” has drawn my attention here. Apple has a significant antitrust action around its app store, some of whom I have first -hand witness. In addition to the case provided by Epic Fortnite – The United States Supreme Court refused to weighAnd Fortnite Especially lost but returned to the American app store – The Ministry of Justice has brought an antitrust action on the iPhone locking.

Nor is it the first time that Musk has used “antitrust” as an excuse to link an enemy perceived in the judicial system. As Part of the above -mentioned Openai beef,, Musk said That Openai and Microsoft tried to “monopolize the AI generator market” using exclusivity agreements with investors when collecting capital, refusing to leave Openai technology of Openai because of the Microsoft exclusivity agreement, and to “lock (lock)” the Talent.

It is a fairly cheeky gangster behavior – Gangster Tech RegulationTo be more precise. Of course, Musk and Trump are not as close as they were formerly, but Musk did not pay all this money so that Trump is elected for Nothing. If Musk carries the pursuit and does it in a friendly court – perhaps that of The shareholder of Tesla Reed O’ConnorThe Judge of the Northern District of Texas – Legal pressure could lead to concessions. It seems that Barely disguised extortion has been fashionable lately Among the right wing.

In response to Musk’s provocation, Apple said that the App Store is “designed to be fair and without prejudice … We present thousands of applications via graphics, algorithmic recommendations and organized lists selected by experts using objective criteria,” said an Apple spokesperson, who was not appointed, says, says, says, says Bloomberg.

It is an obvious horseshoe, but not in the way Musk claims.

Simply visions Musk’s applications, which, I currently suspect Apple rules. Take Grok, for example. Apple recently Deleted three applications It did nudes Defake, probably because they created non -consensual images. Grok, put in “spicy” mode, Create Swift Taylor Taylor imagesEven if he is not directly invited to do so. (The Sora of Google and Openai have protections in place to prevent this kind of thing; their quality is a separate matter.)

There is also the question of X, the artist formerly known as Twitter. Since taking control of Musk, he has encountered a variety of moderation problems, including, but without limiting himself: Children’s sexual abuse material (Yes, always),, Graphics torture torture videosAnd hate speech. (It’s not to say anything about Musk’s own anti -Semitic publication.)

The two applications seem to fly to the directives of the App Store, which say that “the applications should not include offensive, insensitive, upsetting content, intended to disgust, with an exceptionally bad, or simply frightening taste.” Examples include “openly sexual or pornographic material”; “Realist representations of people or animals who are killed, mutilated, tortured or mistreated;” And “defamatory, discriminatory or average content, including references or comments on religion, race, sexual orientation, sex, national / ethnic origin or other targeted groups, in particular if the application is likely to humiliate, intimidate or harm an individual or a targeted group.”

Any social media site based on the content generated by users will have problems that respect these directives, which is why many of them have – or, I suppose that I should say, a robust moderation. And Twitter was undoubtedly in violation of the directives of the App Store Before Musk bought it, Like the CEO of Tumblr, Matt Mullenweg, noted it. (Tumblr, of course, had His own moderation problems trying to comply with Apple’s practices.)

When Musk bought Twitter, moderation came out by the window. Who also created a disinformation problem, which is particularly pronounced with regard to the War of Israel in GazaAnd undoubtedly violates another Apple rule prohibiting “harmful concepts that capitalize or seek to take advantage of recent or current events, such as violent conflicts”.

Grok does not even have the excuse for moderation or content generated by the user; It makes violent content on its own.

Despite all these blatant violations of the policies of the App Store, Apple did not delete Grok or X from the store. Indeed, it is resumed from advertising on x In February, after Put advertisements for a year in response to Musk’s messages.

Thus, while Musk has a point that Apple unfairly prefers certain applications, It is its own applications that benefit from it. And Apple is only really in a difficult situation because it is a musk throwing a crisis of anger. After all, it is not clear that there is a direct antitrust argument here. Antitrust laws generally target the market power business – Those who delete competition. So, in practice, if Apple prefers its own applications in the editorial sections of the App Store, this can be an antitrust violation. Anti -competitive agreements – as Preferably purchase google in the search for safari To prevent Apple from creating its own search engine – would also be a fair game. There is no evidence that such an agreement exists with Openai, although the two companies have a partnership. Indeed, given the propensity of Grok for the nudes of celebrities, it seems more likely that Apple promotes the AI application which doesn’t Make a bunch of naked taylors quickly.

But if there is one thing that Musk likes to do, it is to link people in an endless dispute. It is unlikely that a noisy musk costume, Like the one he has filed against media issueswill threaten Apple as a continuous concern. However, it can lead to embarrassing admissions in the field, serve as headache and distraction, and otherwise be generally a nuisance. And if Musk still has an influence on the Ministry of Justice, his enmity could make the Doj more aggressive in the pursuit of his unrelated antitrust case. In comparison, giving Grok a little help in the App Store may not seem so bad … except that it indicates to Musk what will make Apple crack.

Perhaps this will serve as a lesson in Apple and to the rest of us: once you show that you are ready to pay a bridge pot, requests do not leave. He was perhaps smarter for Apple to continue to refuse to advertise X. Too late now – Musk wants more, and he thinks that Apple will give him. If this is not our new era of gangster tech, I don’t know what it is.