Elon Musk fired a sharp warning at Apple and Google just hours after the two tech titans revealed their massive artificial intelligence partnership. The billionaire CEO directly attacked the collaboration, labeling it an "unreasonable concentration of power" for Google.
Musk's Direct Criticism on Social Media
Musk took to his social media platform X to voice his strong objections. He specifically pointed to Google's existing dominance in key areas as a major concern. "This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that they also have Android and Chrome," Musk wrote in his post. He was responding immediately to the official announcement that Google's Gemini AI will power Apple's next-generation Siri and other Apple Intelligence features.
Business Interests Behind the Opposition
The criticism carries significant weight because Musk has clear business interests in this arena. His own company, xAI, develops Grok, which directly competes with Google's Gemini AI system. Musk is already engaged in legal battles with Apple and OpenAI over their ChatGPT integration. He has accused them of blocking rival AI services from achieving success on the App Store. That particular lawsuit has survived attempts at dismissal and continues to move forward in the courts.
Industry observers are interpreting Musk's latest comments in different ways. Some see them as a potential preview of future legal action against the Apple-Google deal, similar to his ongoing case. Others believe he might be positioning xAI to launch competing products, possibly even a smartphone. Musk has previously floated the idea of creating a phone when expressing frustration with Apple's AI partnerships.
Market Celebration Amidst Musk's Complaints
While Musk raised antitrust concerns, financial markets reacted positively to the partnership news. Google's parent company, Alphabet, briefly reached a $4 trillion valuation on Monday. This milestone allowed it to surpass Apple and become the world's second-most valuable company. The multi-year agreement means Google's Gemini models will operate on Apple's Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. They will power a completely revamped Siri expected to launch this spring.
Apple's Praise and the Silent Response
Apple publicly praised Google's technology after completing its evaluation process. The company stated that Gemini provides "the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models." Neither Apple nor Google has responded directly to Musk's criticism. It appears unlikely that they will publicly address his specific concerns about market concentration. For now, Musk's objections seem more like expressions of competitive frustration than immediate regulatory threats.
