Tech Desk 
Oct 03, 2025
Elon Musk's battle with OpenAI has evolved into one of the most intense competitions in Silicon Valley’s tech community, with lawsuits, wars, talent acquisition, and disagreements about the future of the use of artificial intelligence.
Earlier in the week, OpenAI argued to a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Musk’s startup xAI, which accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets by luring away its employees.
The lawsuit centres around xAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok that is aimed at competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT and that Musk stated is the better product. Musk argued OpenAI was hiring xAI's former engineers to copy Grok's technology, which OpenAI flatly denied.
In the court filings, OpenAI stated the lawsuit is part of Musk's “ongoing harassment”. The company argued it is not illegal for an employee to leave xAI, and the alleged normal-type recruiting calls or offers cannot be treated as theft.
OpenAI contended that the complaint from xAI's lawsuit did not prove that OpenAI acquired any trade secrets or had utilised any of the alleged confidential information.
Additionally, the lawsuit highlights an even deeper rivalry. Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015 but left when there were disagreements over the direction of OpenAI.
OpenAI was able to become a worldwide leader with its release of ChatGPT, and Musk recently started xAI in hopes of directly competing with OpenAI.
Alongside this latest case, Musk has also sued OpenAI over its move to a for-profit model, while OpenAI has countersued him for harassment. xAI has even taken Apple to court, accusing it of working with OpenAI to shut out rivals, claims both companies deny.
In Thursday’s filing, OpenAI described Musk’s lawsuit as a distraction. “The truth is that xAI is losing talent to other competitors, including OpenAI,” the company said.
