Elon Musk on Monday threatened Apple with legal action over alleged antitrust violations related to rankings of the Grok AI chatbot app, which is owned by his artificial intelligence startup xAI.

“Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X.

Apple declined to comment on Musk’s threat.

“Why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?” Musk said in another post.

Apple last year partnered with OpenAI to integrate its ChatGPT chatbot into iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products. Musk at the time said: “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.”

Prior to his legal threats against Apple, Musk had celebrated Grok surpassing Google as the fifth top free app on the App Store. When contacted by CNBC, xAI did not immediately respond to a request for further information on a potential lawsuit.

CNBC confirmed that ChatGPT was ranked No. 1 in the top free apps section of the American iOS store, and was the only AI chatbot in Apple’s “Must-Have Apps” section. The App Store also featured a link to download OpenAI’s new flagship AI model, ChatGPT-5 at the top of its “Apps” section.

OpenAI on Thursday announced GPT-5, its latest and most advanced large-scale AI model, following xAI’s release of its newest chatbot, Grok 4, last month.

Musk has an ongoing feud with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. The billionaire stepped down from its board in 2018, four years after saying that AI was “potentially more dangerous than nukes.”

He is now suing the Microsoft-backed startup, and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging they abandoned OpenAI’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”

Robert Keele, who headed the legal department at xAI, announced last week that he had left the company to spend more time with his family. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged “daylight between our worldviews,” referring to Musk.

In response to Musk’s antitrust threats against Apple, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an X post: “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.”

This is not the first time Apple has been challenged on antitrust grounds. In a landmark case, the Department of Justice last year sued the company over charges of running an iPhone ecosystem monopoly.

In June, a panel of judges also denied an emergency application from Apple to halt the changes to its App Store resulting from a ruling that the company could no longer charge a commission on payment links inside its apps, nor tell developers how the links should look.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing and Lora Kolodny contributed to this article.

Ulta Beauty and Target said Thursday that they have decided to end a deal that opened makeup and beauty shops in hundreds of Target’s stores.

Shares of Target fell about 2% in early trading, while Ulta’s stock slid about 1%.

In a news release, the companies said the partnership — which also added some of Ulta’s merchandise to Target’s website — will end in August 2026. Target had added more than 600 Ulta Beauty shops to its stores since 2021, according to a company spokesperson. That’s nearly a third of Target’s 1,981 U.S. stores.

Ulta Beauty at Target shops carried a smaller and rotating assortment of the merchandise at the beauty retailer’s own stores. They were staffed by Target’s employees.

The loss of the popular beauty retailer’s products could be another blow to Target as it tries to woo back both shoppers and investors. Target’s annual sales have been roughly flat for four years and it expects sales to decline this fiscal year. Shares of the company are worth less than half of what the were back in 2021, when they hit an all-time closing high of $266.39. It also has faced backlash over both its Pride collection and its rollback of key diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Store traffic for Target has declined year over year nearly every week from the week of Jan. 27, days after the company’s DEI announcement, through the week of Aug. 4, according to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to locations. Target traffic had been up weekly year over year in the four weeks before Jan. 27.

The only exceptions to that trend were the two weeks on either side of Easter, when traffic rose less than 1% year over year, the firm’s data showed.

On earnings calls and in investor presentations, leaders of the Minneapolis-based company had touted Ulta’s shops and its trendy beauty brands as a way to drive store traffic.

At a investor presentation in New York City in March, CEO Brian Cornell highlighted beauty as a growth category for Target and cited it as reason for confidence in Target’s long-term business. He said the company had gained market share in beauty and its sales in the category rose by nearly 7% in the fiscal year that ended in early February.

Target’s CEO Brian Cornell, 66, is expected to depart the company soon. The longtime Target leader renewed his contract for approximately three years in September 2022 after the board scrapped its retirement age of 65.

David Bellinger, an analyst for Mizuho Securities who covers retailers, said in an equity research note on Thursday that Target’s “messy in-store operations” as well as issues with retail theft and insufficient staffing at stores likely contributed to the companies ending their partnership.

“Overall, we see losing the Ulta shop-in-shop relationship as a negative development and something else Target’s next CEO will have to grapple with,” he wrote.

In a statement on Thursday, Target Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said the discounter is “proud of our shared success with Ulta Beauty and the experience we’ve delivered together.”

“We look forward to what’s ahead and remain committed to offering the beauty experience consumers have come to expect from Target — one centered on an exciting mix of beauty brands with continuous newness, all at an unbeatable value,” he said.

In a statement, Ulta’s Chief Retail Officer Amiee Bayer-Thomas described the Target deal as “one of many unique ways we have brought the power of beauty to guests nationwide.”

“As we continue to execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed plans, we’re confident our wide-ranging assortment, expert services and inspiring in-store experiences will reinforce our leadership in beauty and define the next chapter of our brand,” she said.

Lyft said Thursday its co-founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer, are stepping down from the ride-hailing services provider’s board, following the completion of a two-year transition plan.

Green and Zimmer began serving as the chair and vice chair of Lyft’s board in 2023 after stepping down as CEO and president, respectively, handing the reins to David Risher, who has been a board member since 2021.

The duo founded Lyft in 2012, with the company now operating across four continents and nearly 1,000 cities.

Sean Aggarwal, who was the chair of Lyft’s board from 2019 to 2023, will reprise his role.

Zimmer is launching a new consumer-focused business venture named YES&, while Green will continue as a venture partner at Autotech Ventures, a firm investing in the mobility and transportation sector.

Lyft, which recently completed its nearly $200 million acquisition of European mobility platform FreeNow, has signed a deal with China’s Baidu 9888.HK to introduce the search-engine giant’s robotaxis in the region.

It posted revenue of $1.59 billion in the second quarter, missing estimates of $1.61 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Rides on Lyft’s platform grew 14% to a record high of 234.8 million in the quarter, slightly below estimates of 235.9 million, per Visible Alpha.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a new stake in troubled insurer UnitedHealth last quarter, according to a regulatory filing, a surprising buy because of the company’s current reputation, but perhaps not considering his history of bargain investing.

The Omaha-based conglomerate bought more than 5 million shares in the health care firm for a stake worth about $1.6 billion at the end of June. The stake puts it as the 18th biggest position in the Berkshire portfolio behind Amazon and Constellation Brands, according to VerityData.

Berkshire’s equity portfolio is worth about $300 billion, so it is possible that Buffett’s two investing lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler were more responsible for this purchase rather than the “Oracle of Omaha” himself. Buffett said one of his investment managers was behind the Amazon investment in 2019.

The insurer’s stock shot up 6% in extended trading following Berkshire’s disclosure.

Shares of UnitedHealth were down nearly 50% for 2025 through Thursday’s close before Buffett’s filing. The largest private health insurer has become the face of a public blowback in this country against the rising costs of health care. UnitedHealth is currently facing a Justice Department investigation into its Medicare billing practices.

In May, the company pulled its annual earnings outlook and CEO Andrew Witty stepped down. Last month, UnitedHealth gave a new 2025 outlook that was well short of Wall Street estimates, hitting the stock further.

Buffett, who’s turning 95 this month, has been critical of the healthcare system in the U.S., calling it a “tapeworm” on the economy due to its high costs. In 2018, he, along with Jeff Bezos and Jamie Dimon, launched a joint venture to improve healthcare for their employees and potentially for all Americans, but it was eventually shut down.

UnitedHealth isn’t the only stock Berkshire picked up recently. In fact, the conglomerate also took small stakes in steel manufacturer Nucor, outdoor advertising company Lamar Advertising and security firm Allegion. Berkshire also got back into homebuilders Lennar and DR Horton.

Shares of Nucor jumped nearly 8% in afterhours trading, while Lennar and DR Horton popped about 3% each.

Buffett also pared his positions in Bank of America and Apple. The Apple stake was cut by about 7%. Berkshire’s largest positions as of the end of the second quarter were Apple, American Express, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Chevron.

The legendary investor is stepping down as Berkshire CEO at the end of the year, handing over the reins to Greg Abel. Buffett will stay on as chairman of the board. It’s still unclear who will be in charge of Berkshire’s gigantic equity portfolio, though Buffett has alluded that Abel will be making all capital allocation decisions at the conglomerate.

UnitedHealth attracted other buyers last quarter, according to filings, including Michael Burry and Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper. Shares of the insurer are trading at a price-earnings ratio of just under 12, near its lowest in more than a decade.

There was speculation regarding a mystery stock Buffett was buying as Berkshire had asked for permission to keep certain holdings secret last quarter. It turns out the secret stock was a combination of multiple positions and likely the stakes added in DR Horton, Nucor and Lennar “A” shares.

Apple on Thursday announced a redesigned blood oxygen feature for some Apple Watch users, following a yearslong intellectual property dispute over the capability.

Apple said the redesigned feature is coming to some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users on Thursday. The update was possible because of a recent U.S. Customs ruling, the company said.

In 2023, the International Trade Commission found that Apple’s blood oxygen sensors infringed on intellectual property from Masimo, a medical technology company. Apple paused the sale of some of its watches and began selling modified versions of the wearables without the blood oxygen feature.

“Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features that are grounded in science and have privacy at the core,” the company said in a release announcing the feature rollout.

CNBC has reached out to Masimo for comment.

Users who do not currently have the feature will be able to access it by updating their iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1, Apple said. Users will be able to see their results in the Respiratory section of the Health app.

Apple has been pushing deeper into health care in recent years.

The company recently released a sleep apnea detection feature for Apple Watch users and hearing health features for its AirPods headphones. In February, Apple launched its first major health study in five years.

For years, conservative groups and corporate leaders argued that the U.S. government would be better if it were run like a business.

For President Donald Trump, who has controlled his own businesses for decades, that looks like taking an increasingly active role in individual corporations’ affairs, from manufacturing to media to tech firms.

And corporations are meeting the demands of a president who is more freely exerting his powers than he did the last time he was in office. At Trump’s urging, Coca-Cola said it would produce a version of its namesake soda with U.S.-grown cane sugar. Paramount paid millions to settle allegations Trump levied against CBS’ venerated “60 Minutes.” Two major semiconductor makers agreed to give the government a cut of their sales in China. The CEO of Intel met with Trump soon after the president called on him to resign.

“It’s so much different than the first term,” said a Republican lobbyist whose firm represents several Fortune 500 companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s just acting like a businessman. In his first term, I think he was trying to cosplay as a politician. He’s more comfortable in his own skin, too. He can explain deals better.”

Trump’s role represents a break with past administrations that may have been unwilling or unable, politically, to bring similar pressure to bear on businesses. In the past, small-government conservatives once accused previous Democratic administrations of attempting to “pick winners and losers” by trying to regulate industries. Trump today stands downstream of a bolder right-wing movement that calls for enhanced state intervention in corporate affairs.

Trump has said the corporate concessions are intended to boost the U.S. economy.

And the White House, in a statement, reinforced the idea that Trump’s involved approach to private-sector dealings is a key part of his economic agenda.

“Cooled inflation, trillions in new investments, historic trade deals, and hundreds of billions in tariff revenue prove how President Trump’s hands-on leadership is paving the way towards a new Golden Age for America,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Playboy plans to relocate its global headquarters from Los Angeles to Miami Beach and open a Playboy club there.

The Miami Beach headquarters at the top of a luxury office building will include studios to support Playboy’s “growing creator network” and the club will have a restaurant as well as a members-only section inspired by the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, the company said Thursday in a statement.

“Miami Beach is among the most dynamic and culturally influential cities in the country, making it the ideal home for Playboy’s next chapter,” Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy Inc., said in the statement.

The first Playboy Magazine was published in 1953, featuring Marilyn Monroe on the cover and in a “Sweetheart of the Month” color nude photo inside.

The first Playboy Club opened in 1960 in Chicago, which was the headquarters of the company at the time, and the company opened up clubs around the world.

In 2020, Playboy ceased publishing its monthly print magazine, sticking instead with online content.