Judge Rita Lin Dismisses xAI Trade-Secret Suit Against OpenAI With Prejudice, Musk Suffers 2nd Loss in 4 Weeks
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 15
Judge Rita Lin Dismisses xAI Trade-Secret Suit Against OpenAI With Prejudice, Musk Suffers 2nd Loss in 4 Weeks
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 15
Summary
Rita Lin threw out xAI’s trade-secret case with prejudice, ruling the company could not show OpenAI induced former xAI engineer Xuechen Li to reveal Grok-related confidential information.
Lin said asking recruits about prior work is routine and does not support an inference that OpenAI pushed Li to leak secrets; she called further amendment futile after dismissing an earlier version in February.
The amended complaint centered on a presentation Li gave during OpenAI recruiting, with xAI alleging OpenAI sought Grok 4 know-how because ChatGPT was lagging in complex reasoning and post-training techniques.
OpenAI said Li never worked there and it never acquired xAI secrets; Li, who is being sued separately by xAI, has denied wrongdoing.
The ruling marks Musk’s second courtroom defeat against OpenAI in four weeks, after a May 18 jury rejected his $150 billion lawsuit over the company’s shift from its nonprofit mission.