Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has filed a lawsuit against rival OpenAI in California federal court, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets to gain an edge in the competition to develop advanced AI technology.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, alleges that OpenAI engaged in a “deeply troubling pattern” of recruiting former xAI employees to access confidential information tied to xAI’s Grok chatbot, including source code and operational strategies for launching data centers.
“OpenAI is targeting those individuals with knowledge of xAI’s key technologies and business plans—including xAI’s source code and its operational advantages in launching data centers—then inducing those employees to breach their confidentiality and other obligations to xAI through unlawful means,” the lawsuit states.
xAI said it uncovered the alleged scheme while pursuing a separate trade secrets case against former engineer Xuechen Li, whom it accuses of taking proprietary data to OpenAI. Li has not responded to the allegations.
The new lawsuit also cites the hiring of former xAI engineer Jimmy Fraiture and an unnamed senior finance executive as part of the alleged effort to obtain xAI trade secrets.
The case adds to a growing legal clash between Musk and the company he co-founded. Musk is separately suing OpenAI over its shift to a for-profit model, while OpenAI has countersued him for harassment. xAI has also sued Apple in federal court, alleging it conspired with OpenAI to suppress competing platforms.
