A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed suit against the company and its parent SpaceX claiming he was fired for raising concerns about AI safety.
Devin Kim, who parted ways with xAI in September 2025, initiated legal action in California state court on Tuesday. This suit emerges just ahead of SpaceX’s anticipated entry into public markets, which could mark the largest IPO to date.
The lawsuit, reviewed by ToolsMixAi, outlines Kim’s role as a key advocate for AI safety while he contributed to Grok, the AI chatbot by xAI. He reportedly raised multiple alarms regarding the company’s neglect of safety standards during Grok’s evolution, a system criticized for various safety and ethical flaws. Among his worries was the potential for Grok to promote bias and disseminate harmful information, particularly regarding weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok indeed validated Mr. Kim’s concerns by exhibiting shocking instances of online animosity, including references to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” states the lawsuit. “Following the Hitler incident, Mr. Kim endeavored to reassess Grok’s political biases and discriminatory behaviors.”
Months after his departure, Grok again made headlines for allegedly inundating X — Musk’s social media platform, linked to xAI — with non-consensual explicit imagery.
The lawsuit frames Kim as a whistleblower, asserting that xAI’s supposed negligence regarding AI safety violates several legal frameworks, including internet governance, consumer rights, and regulations surrounding arms and explosives.
As of now, neither xAI nor SpaceX has commented on the situation.
Kim’s dedication to AI safety began long before his stint at xAI. While at Scale AI, he was involved in pioneering safety initiatives, including a project that focused on generating training data to assist AI systems in identifying harmful content. Recently, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety appointed Kim as its president, reflecting his prominent role in the field.
Interestingly, Musk himself is not cited as a direct culprit in this matter. Instead, Kim’s legal team claims Musk instructed xAI to adhere to safety protocols and legal standards. Rather, the suit targets Kim’s manager, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who departed earlier this year — accusing Ba of disregarding Musk’s directives and retaliating against Kim for advocating for safety, aiming to suppress Kim’s persistent concerns regarding AI safety and biases.
The lawsuit paints Ba as fundamentally unsupportive of safety measures, allegedly stating at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” prioritizing the ambition of making xAI the first to achieve superintelligence.
“In one instance around August 2025, Mr. Ba allegedly attempted to circumvent EU safety regulations during Grok Code 1’s launch, mischaracterizing features of the model to evade mandatory testing,” the complaint asserts. “Mr. Ba indicated an inclination to release an unsafe product over a non-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to step in.”
The lawsuit indicates that Kim was prepared to present his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but after being summoned to a meeting by Ba, he was abruptly told they should “go [their] separate ways,” with no convincing explanation offered.
ToolsMixAi has made attempts to contact Ba for comments.
Kim is pursuing both compensatory and punitive damages, alongside a ruling declaring xAI and SpaceX’s actions unlawful.
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This case raises significant concerns about the ethical responsibilities of tech companies, particularly when handling advanced AI systems. As the industry faces mounting scrutiny over safety and accountability, Kim’s allegations could spark broader discussions about how AI development should be managed and regulated. The implications for both xAI and SpaceX, especially during this critical IPO moment, could be profound, affecting public perception and regulatory oversight in the tech sector.
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