On October 3rd, OpenAI made a strong response through its official channels to the lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's xAI in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It stated, "We don't need and don't want anyone's trade secrets," and said it would do its best to protect employees from Musk's "bullying."
According to reports, xAI accused OpenAI of systematic poaching and illegal theft of trade secrets in the lawsuit, claiming that OpenAI lured its employees to break confidentiality agreements to gain access to its source code, data center operational advantages, and strategic plans, aiming to gain an unfair competitive advantage. Musk expressed anger in this lawsuit, saying, "It's unbearable, no need to tolerate anymore." This is the sixth legal action Musk has taken against OpenAI in the past one and a half years, with the allegations escalating from initial contract violations to the current charge of trade secret theft, seemingly indicating his strong dissatisfaction with OpenAI.
OpenAI, on the other hand, emphasized in its response that these allegations are baseless and lack evidence. They pointed out that under Musk's leadership, xAI is experiencing talent loss, with many outstanding employees choosing to join OpenAI to help advance the company's mission. OpenAI believes that employees have the right to choose where they work, and their hiring of these employees is entirely legal.
This lawsuit has attracted widespread attention, with many people beginning to question whether this escalating legal battle will affect the healthy development of the AI industry. Regardless, OpenAI stated that it will continue to be committed to protecting its employees and will not back down from Musk's legal actions.
