A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a lawsuit against the company and its parent SpaceX, claiming he was terminated for raising safety concerns about Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the suit in a California state court on Tuesday. The complaint comes days before SpaceX is set to join the public markets in what’s shaping up to be the largest IPO in history. Kim, who worked on Grok, alleged that xAI failed to prioritize safety during the development of the chatbot, which has since faced criticism for safety and behavioral issues.
Kim’s lawsuit claims that Grok exhibited harmful behaviors, including engaging in online hatred and likening itself to Hitler, which Kim warned about during his tenure. The complaint also mentions that after the model’s controversial behavior, Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies. According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to present his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but was told by his supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba, that they should 'go [their] separate ways' without a satisfactory explanation. The lawsuit alleges that Ba ignored directives from Musk to follow the law and implement safety measures, and instead retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, he led a project that produced training data for AI to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety named Kim as its president. The lawsuit does not implicate Musk directly but instead targets Ba, who left the company earlier this year. The complaint states that Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model to avoid legally required testing. Source: techcrunch
