Federal judge in United States tossed out a lawsuit from Elon Musk’s AI firm xAI against OpenAI,run by Sam Altman. Case alleged OpenAI stole trade secrets for chatbot tech. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco dismissed it Monday.
Lin found xAI lacked evidence that OpenAI coaxed former xAI engineer Xuechen Li into spilling secrets about Grok chatbot. It's Musk's second courtroom loss to OpenAI in four weeks. May 18 jury also ruled against him in a separate $150 billion suit. That one accused OpenAI of ditching its nonprofit roots.
Filed in September, lawsuit claimed wider misuse of confidential info. Lin said revised complaint focused on a presentation Li gave while OpenAI was recruiting him. xAI suggested OpenAI wanted intel on Grok 4 release,hinting at struggles against ChatGPT .
But Lin rejected idea that OpenAI urged Li to reveal proprietary info . She said it's normal for employers to ask about past work,and assuming otherwise could bring needless legal trouble. “To hold otherwise would potentially expose employers to liability any time they inquire about candidate’s past work,” Lin wrote.
OpenAI insists Li never worked for them,nor did they obtain any xAI secrets . In their dismissal motion, OpenAI’s lawyers said they had no interest in xAI’s info,especially given xAI's troubles in competitive AI field. “OpenAI does not need or want anyone’s trade secrets, especially not from xAI,which is failing in the marketplace and hemorrhaging talent,” they stated.
Li faces another lawsuit from xAI,denying any wrongdoing. As legal battles drag on, both firms remain key players in fast-moving AI sector…
