Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has launched legal action against a former employee accused of stealing sensitive information about its Grok chatbot and passing it to rival OpenAI.
Details of the lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in a California federal court, claims that engineerXuechen Li misappropriated confidential data on “cutting-edge AI technologies with features surpassing ChatGPT” before joining OpenAI earlier this month.
Li’s role at xAI
According to the complaint, Li joined xAI last year and played a key role in developing and training Grok, the company’s conversational AI. The suit alleges he downloaded trade secrets in July, just after agreeing to a position at OpenAI and cashing out $7 million in xAI stock.
xAI further claims Li admitted during a meeting on 14 August to taking company files and attempting to conceal his actions, though investigators later uncovered additional undisclosed material on his devices. The company argues the information could give OpenAI an advantage in enhancing ChatGPT with xAI’s more imaginative features.
OpenAI has not been named as a defendant in the case. Neither Li nor representatives for the two companies have commented publicly on the matter.
Broader rivalry with OpenAI
The legal clash highlights both the intensifying competition for top AI talent and the personal rivalry between Musk and OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. Musk is already engaged in separate litigation against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, accusing them of straying from the company’s original non-profit mission. OpenAI has filed a countersuit, describing Musk’s actions as harassment.
Earlier this week, xAI also sued OpenAI and Apple in Texas, alleging the two companies are working to monopolise AI services on Apple devices.
In the latest filing, xAI is seeking unspecified damages and a court order preventing Li from taking up his role at OpenAI.
(With inputs from Reuters)
