A former artificial intelligence engineer at Elon Musk's xAI has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging he was wrongfully terminated after raising safety concerns about the firm's Grok chatbot. The complaint also names SpaceX, xAI's parent company, which is scheduled for its initial public offering on Friday.
Lawsuit Details
In a lawsuit filed in California state court, Devin Kim claims he repeatedly complained to his supervisors that the company was not prioritizing safety while developing Grok. Kim says he was fired in September 2025, just before a planned presentation to xAI leadership about safety issues.
Kim's allegations come months after a global controversy over the widespread use of Grok to digitally undress people. Since then, regulators across Europe have sought to impose restrictions on Grok. Some consumers, including influencer Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk's children, have also sued xAI.
Specific Concerns
In his suit, Kim states that while working on a project, he discovered that Grok "tended to discriminate against certain racial groups while favoring others." He reported this observation to his supervisors in various reports. Kim also expressed concerns that Grok could provide users with instructions on bomb-making or creating bioweapons.
"Mr. Kim believed that xAI's disregard for AI safety was unlawful," his lawyers said in the lawsuit. Referring to the undressing scandal, they added, "Mr. Kim's concerns about xAI's model were not only well-grounded but proved remarkably prescient."
IPO Context
The complaint also names SpaceX, xAI's parent company, which is set for its blockbuster initial public offering on Friday. The AI unit was central to the IPO roadshow, with Musk promoting AI satellites, data centers, and a frontier lab to create a vertically integrated AI conglomerate.
Neither xAI nor SpaceX immediately responded to requests for comment on Kim's suit.
Background
Before joining xAI, Kim previously worked at Scale AI and claims he discussed AI safety with executives. During those conversations, Kim said he "highlighted the risks associated with rapidly advancing AI capabilities, and sought to understand xAI's approach to safety and risk mitigation."
Once at xAI, Kim alleges his supervisor, co-founder Jimmy Ba, was dismissive of safety concerns. According to Kim, Ba did not follow safety directives issued by Musk. "AI will kill us all anyway," Ba allegedly said. Kim says it was Ba who fired him.
Ba, who did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, left the firm in February following its merger with SpaceX. Since then, all of xAI's founding members except Musk have departed, along with dozens of engineers and specialists. Musk has since brought over staff from SpaceX's Starlink unit.
