Elon Musk’s xAI sues OpenAI again, accusing ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets related to Grok AI
Elon Musk’s xAI is suing rival OpenAI once again, this time accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets in order to gain an unfair advantage in the AI race. In the lawsuit filed in California federal court on Wednesday, xAI claims that OpenAI is threatened by the ‘innovativeness and creativity’ of xAI’s code and the rapid speed at which the company deploys its data centres to train and run its AI.
The lawsuit claims that OpenAI is “waging a coordinated, unfair, and unlawful campaign” by specifically targeting xAI employees and using them to steal the company’s trade secrets related to the Grok chatbot.
xAI had earlier sued a former engineer named Xuechen Li for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to Grok and taking them to the ChatGPT maker. The company said it caught wind of a “deeply troubling pattern” while investigating the hiring of this individual by OpenAI.
The lawsuit also gives details about a former xAI engineer Jimmy Fraiture and an unnamed senior finance executive who were also allegedly hired by OpenAI in order to obtain trade secrets.
“By hook or by crook, OpenAI clearly will do anything when threatened by a better innovator, including plundering and misappropriating the technical advancements, source code, and business plans of xAI,” the lawsuit claims.
“OpenAI is not merely soliciting or hiring a competitor’s employees. OpenAI is waging a coordinated, unfair, and unlawful campaign: 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,” it further notes.
Elon Musk’s history with OpenAI:
Musk has a long and twisted history with OpenAI from being a co-founder of the company along with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to being one of its chief critics and now a rival.
Just last month, Musk sued OpenAI and Apple for allegedly favouring the ChatGPT maker in App Store rankings.
Musk has also sued OpenAI for putting profit ahead of its foundational mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity. In reply, OpenAI has also countersued Musk for harassment.
