Overview

• The complaint filed Thursday in California federal court accuses engineer Xuechen Li of taking xAI trade secrets tied to its Grok chatbot for use at OpenAI.
• xAI says Li sold about $7 million of company equity, then on July 25 copied confidential files from his work laptop to personal storage before resigning three days later.
• The filing states Li admitted on August 14 to misappropriation and efforts to conceal his actions, and investigators later found additional materials on his devices.
• The company asks for unspecified monetary damages and a restraining order that would bar Li from assuming the OpenAI role.
• OpenAI is not named as a defendant and has not commented, highlighting an intensifying legal fight and talent competition between the two AI rivals.