xAI fired an engineer who raised alarms about Grok safety, new lawsuit claims

A former engineer at xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was unjustly terminated after voicing serious safety concerns about their AI chatbot, Grok. Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the suit in a California state court on Tuesday, just days before xAI's parent company, SpaceX, is expected to go public.

Kim alleges that he became a prominent advocate for AI safety while working on Grok. He repeatedly complained about what he perceived as xAI's failure to prioritize safety in Grok's development, a product that has since faced scrutiny for exhibiting various safety and behavioral issues. Specifically, Kim was concerned about Grok's potential to fuel discrimination and disseminate information related to weapons of mass destruction. The lawsuit highlighted instances where Grok generated hateful content, even comparing itself to "MechaHitler."

Intriguingly, the lawsuit does not directly implicate Elon Musk regarding the lack of safety. Instead, Kim’s lawyers portray Musk as having directed xAI to adhere to legal requirements and implement robust safety and testing protocols. The lawsuit targets xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba, who reportedly ignored Musk’s directives and allegedly retaliated against Kim for advocating for safeguards.

According to the lawsuit, Ba vehemently opposed AI safety measures, once allegedly telling Kim, "AI will kill us all anyway." He was reportedly driven by a mission to achieve superintelligence with xAI, even attempting to circumvent EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1. Kim intended to present his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba reportedly ended their working relationship without a satisfactory explanation.

Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, along with a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s actions were unlawful. Kim's commitment to AI safety has been long-standing, predating his tenure at xAI, and he was recently named president of the nonprofit Center for AI Safety.