Elon Musk’s x AI Files Case Against OpenAI: Hiring Patterns and Trade Secret Concerns

Elon Musk led x AI sues OpenAI over poaching and trade secret concerns

X's AI Case Against OpenAI

In a lawsuit filed on September 23, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, x AI stated:

“OpenAI is targeting individuals who know x AI’s key technologies and business plans, including x's AI source code and operational advantages in launching data centers, and then unlawfully inducing these employees to breach their confidentiality and obligations to x.”

This is the latest legal action Musk-led enterprise has taken against OpenAI’s former business partner Sam Altman  x AI has previously filed several lawsuits against OpenAI over similar concerns.

The complaint also claims that OpenAI hired an unidentified senior finance executive and former business engineer, Jimmy Fraiture, to gather xAI’s trade secrets.

Additionally, the lawsuit included a screenshot of an email sent in July to a former xAI employee. The email, obtained by Alex Spiro, Musk and xAI’s lawyer, accuses the employee of violating confidentiality agreements.

Elon Musk’s Comment

Musk wrote about the lawsuit:

“We sent them several warning letters, but they continued to cheat. Lawsuit was the last option after exhausting everything else.”

Musk’s Other Legal Battles

Elon Musk, involved in multiple lawsuits as both plaintiff and defendant, filed a case last month against OpenAI and Apple over alleged anti-competitive behavior, including Apple’s preference for ChatGPT in its App Store. The suit claims competitors engaged in a “conspiracy to monopolize the markets for smartphones and generative AI chatbots.”

Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left the board in 2018 after an unsuccessful bid to gain control of the organization.

In February, OpenAI rejected Musk’s $97.4 billion acquisition offer. OpenAI Board Chair Bret Taylor commented on Twitter/X 

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition.”