xAI sued by former engineer over safety concerns

Devin Kim, a former engineer at xAI (Elon Musk’s AI company), filed a lawsuit against xAI and its parent company SpaceX in a California state court on Tuesday. Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, claims he was fired in retaliation for raising concerns about AI safety during his work on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. Before joining xAI, Kim worked at Scale AI (an AI data training company). He was recently named president of the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit focused on AI risks.

According to the lawsuit, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development. As the legal document states, “Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’).” The chatbot was also used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.

The lawsuit does not implicate Musk directly. Instead, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. The legal action instead targets Kim’s supervisor, former xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba, claiming Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim to silence his complaints. The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim that artificial intelligence would kill everyone anyway in his pursuit to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence. The complaint also reports that in or around August 2025, Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing.

According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings during the week of September 15, 2025. However, Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should part ways. Kim is now seeking a declaratory judgment that the conduct of xAI and SpaceX was unlawful, following his termination for raising safety concerns.

Why it matters

This lawsuit highlights the internal friction at high-profile AI labs, where the pressure to reach superintelligence often clashes with the need for rigorous safety and regulatory compliance.