xAI wins order to temporarily bar ex-employee's role at OpenAI
What's the story
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI, has won a court order to restrict a former employee's activities related to generative AI at its competitor, OpenAI. The US District Judge Rita Lin issued the temporary restraining order on Tuesday at the request of xAI. It prevents Xuechen Li from working on or discussing generative AI technology with his new employer.
Allegations
Li accused of taking trade secrets to OpenAI
Last month, xAI accused Li in a lawsuit of taking trade secrets related to "cutting-edge AI technologies with features superior to those offered by ChatGPT" to his new job at OpenAI. The lawsuit highlights the competition among tech giants in Silicon Valley for AI market share and talent acquisition for AI systems.
Ongoing lawsuits
xAI has also sued Apple in separate case
In a separate case, xAI has sued Apple in federal court for allegedly conspiring with OpenAI to suppress rival platforms. Musk is also suing OpenAI over its transition to a for-profit company. The lawsuit against Li claims he joined xAI last year and helped train its chatbot Grok before taking trade secrets in July after accepting a job from OpenAI and selling $7 million worth of xAI stock.
Communication ban
Temporary order will remain until all confidential information is deleted
The court's order prohibits Li from discussing generative AI with any officer, director, employee, agent, supplier, consultant, or customer of OpenAI. The restriction will remain in place until xAI confirms that all its confidential information in Li's possession has been deleted. A hearing is scheduled for October 7 to decide if a longer order should be enforced.