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Elon Musk’s xAI and X have sued Apple and OpenAI for antitrust violations, claiming their ChatGPT integration deal creates an unfair monopoly by making ChatGPT the only AI chatbot with first-party iPhone integration. The lawsuit alleges Apple manipulated App Store rankings to disadvantage xAI’s Grok chatbot. This escalates Musk’s ongoing feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, his former ally. The suit echoes DOJ allegations that Apple suppresses “super apps” threatening its services business. OpenAI called it “harassment” while Apple hasn’t yet responded.

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Quote of the day.

”… that Terry Gou (Foxconn founder) ranks second only to Deng Xiaoping in transforming China into an industrial behemoth over the previous fifty years. That’s an extraordinary claim, but one backed up even by Gou’s rivals. “The reason Shenzhen is Shenzhen is Terry Gou,” says a high-ranking contract manufacturing executive. “Without his ambition, Shenzhen wouldn’t be the manufacturing power it is.” - Patrick McGee, Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company

Trump plans to announce semiconductor tariffs as high as 300% this week, citing national security concerns. Companies with U.S. manufacturing commitments like Apple and Nvidia may receive exemptions, while foreign chipmakers TSMC and Samsung face higher exemption hurdles despite U.S. investments. The tariffs could increase consumer prices and slow economic growth by 0.76% over ten years. Intel is among the few who stands to benefit as companies may shift to domestic foundries, recently receiving a $2 billion SoftBank investment.

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The White House is finalizing a deal to convert Intel’s $10.9 billion Chips Act subsidies into a 10% government equity stake without voting rights, marking an unprecedented arrangement to boost domestic chip manufacturing while ensuring taxpayer benefit.

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SoftBank Group will invest $2 billion in Intel at $23 per share, acquiring approximately 2% of the chipmaker. The deal aligns with Trump administration efforts to boost U.S. semiconductor production and follows SoftBank’s $500 billion Stargate AI project announcement. CEO Masayoshi Son emphasized semiconductors’ foundational role across industries, while Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlighted their longstanding relationship. The investment complements SoftBank’s recent chip sector acquisitions including Graphcore and Ampere Computing, potentially creating synergies between Intel’s fabrication capabilities and SoftBank subsidiary Arm’s chip designs.

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