Elon Musk battles Grok safety claims before SpaceX debut

Elon Musk’s xAI and SpaceX have been sued by a former engineer who alleges he was fired after raising safety concerns about Grok ahead of SpaceX’s planned IPO.

According to a complaint in California’s Santa Clara County Superior Court, former xAI employee Devin Kim alleges that he pushed for stronger testing procedures and additional safeguards to reduce the risk of harmful outputs from Grok.

The lawsuit claims the chatbot lacked adequate protections against misinformation, bias, and other potentially damaging responses.

Kim’s legal team argues that the case extends beyond a workplace dispute. In a statement included in the filing, lead counsel Qiaojing Ella Zheng said:

“This case is about more than one employee’s termination. It is about whether people closest to the development of powerful AI technologies can raise safety concerns without risking their careers.”

Zheng also argued that companies should be held accountable if workers are punished for reporting issues that could affect the public.

Kim says internal warnings led to retaliation

Court documents describe Kim as one of xAI’s earliest hires and identify him as a vocal supporter of AI safety measures inside the company.

According to the complaint, he joined xAI partly because of Musk’s own public warnings about the risks associated with highly advanced artificial intelligence systems.

The filing states that Kim built his career around artificial intelligence and focused on reducing potential harms linked to the design and deployment of AI products. It further alleges that xAI and SpaceX retaliated against him and ultimately terminated his employment after he repeatedly raised safety-related concerns.

Several controversies involving Grok were cited in the complaint as examples of issues Kim allegedly discussed internally. Among them was the widely reported “MechaHitler” incident, which generated antisemitic content and later prompted corrective action from xAI.

Representing Kim, David Sanford, chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, said the lawsuit is not intended to oppose technological development.

“Devin Kim and Elon Musk have publicly shared a fundamental concern that advanced artificial intelligence must be developed safely and responsibly because of its profound implications for humanity.”

Kim is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, forfeited equity compensation, and other remedies through the lawsuit.

SpaceX IPO proceeds despite legal and political scrutiny

SpaceX has been named alongside xAI in the lawsuit following the companies’ recent merger, placing the legal dispute directly in focus ahead of the aerospace company’s planned June 12 public listing.

Despite the filing, investor sentiment surrounding the offering has remained largely positive. As previously reported by crypto.news, brokerage firm Oppenheimer initiated coverage of SpaceX with an outperform rating and a $190 price target, compared with the company’s expected IPO price of $135.

In its research note, Oppenheimer said SpaceX could benefit from combining space-based infrastructure with artificial intelligence systems while using terrestrial computing resources to improve operational efficiency and expand services.

Meanwhile, the IPO has also attracted its share of political scrutiny from Washington. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to delay the offering, citing concerns about investor protections, corporate governance, and the company’s valuation.

Attention around the listing has also reached crypto markets. Earlier reporting by crypto.news noted that some analysts warned the IPO could attract capital that might otherwise flow into digital assets.

However, blockchain data reviewed by CryptoQuant showed no unusual withdrawals of USDC or Tether during Bitcoin’s recent decline, suggesting there was no clear evidence that investors were moving significant crypto liquidity to participate in the offering.