Ex-Engineer Sues Elon Musk's xAI Over Alleged Retaliation for AI Safety Concerns

A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed suit against the company and its parent SpaceX, alleging that he was fired for raising concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) safety. Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the complaint in a California state court on Tuesday.

According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has reviewed, Kim became a vocal advocate for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He repeatedly warned about the potential risks associated with not prioritizing safety in Grok's development, concerns that have since been validated by issues with the product.

Kim expressed particular alarm over the possibility of Grok promoting discrimination and disseminating information related to weapons of mass destruction. In his complaint, he states: 'Grok proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler ('MechaHitler'). Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.'

September marked Kim's last month at xAI! He joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where they developed some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok's development. On his first day, he was at the whiteboard with @ibab.

While Kim’s time at xAI came to an end a few months later, the chatbot faced another scandal when it was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery. This incident further underscores Kim's concerns and his push for safety measures.

The lawsuit accuses Kim of being a whistleblower who raised issues related to internet regulation, consumer protection, unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulations, all in violation of Musk’s directives that xAI follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead, it points fingers at Kim's supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba, for ignoring these instructions and retaliating against Kim.

Ba is described as an opponent to AI safety measures who once reportedly told Kim, 'AI will kill us all anyway,' and was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence. The lawsuit alleges that in August 2025, Ba tried to bypass EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model to avoid required testing.

Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful. He plans to give a presentation of his findings on September 15, 2025, but Ba allegedly prevented him from doing so by telling him they should 'go [their] separate ways.'

Both xAI and SpaceX have not responded to requests for comment.