According to technology website TechCrunch, a former engineer at Musk’s xAI company has filed a lawsuit against the company and its parent company SpaceX, claiming that he was fired for raising AI safety concerns. The engineer’s name is Devin Kim, who will leave xAI in September 2025. He filed the lawsuit in California court on Tuesday. In a few days, SpaceX will hit the public market and is expected to become the largest IPO in history.
Grok
The complaint shows that Devin King became an important voice within the company in promoting AI safety while participating in the development of the xAI chatbot Grok.He has repeatedly criticized xAI for failing to prioritize security issues during Grok's development.Grok has since been criticized for a series of safety and behavioral issues. King was particularly concerned that Grok could incite discrimination and facilitate the dissemination of information related to weapons of mass destruction, according to the complaint.
"It turns out that Grok's performance confirmed Devon King's concerns. The model displayed extreme hatred and vicious remarks on the Internet, even comparing himself to Hitler," the complaint states.
The lawsuit also positions Devin King as a whistleblower. He believes that xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety issues may constitute illegal conduct in multiple areas, including Internet supervision, consumer protection, unfair business practices, and supervision of weapons and explosives.
As of press time, xAI and SpaceX have not commented on this.