OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has asked a U.S. federal court to order Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI (now SpaceXAI) to pay more than $1 million in legal costs. The request follows a judge’s dismissal of SpaceXAI’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI. The ChatGPT creator now wants Musk’s company to cover its legal expenses, arguing that the case lacked evidence and “should never have been filed.”
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SPCX has a long & short ETF? Explore SPCM & SPCGCourt Dismisses xAI’s Lawsuit as OpenAI Seeks Legal Costs
According to reports, the dispute started after SpaceXAI, the AI division of rocket firm SpaceX (SPCX), accused OpenAI of hiring its staff and encouraging them to share classified company data. OpenAI denied the claims and said the lawsuit cost it a significant amount to defend. As a result, the company has requested over $1 million to cover the damages from legal costs.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed SpaceXAI’s case twice. In February, the court said Musk’s company failed to prove OpenAI had done anything wrong. After SpaceXAI filed an updated complaint in March, Judge Rita Lin dismissed it again in June, saying there was still no evidence of trade secret theft.
The judge said the case was mainly based on the fact that eight former SpaceXAI employees later joined OpenAI. She also ruled that asking new staff about their previous work did not count as stealing confidential data.
OpenAI Faces Fresh Apple Lawsuit as SpaceXAI Appeal Continues
While SpaceXAI prepares to appeal the court’s ruling in its case, OpenAI is also facing a separate trade-secrets lawsuit from the global tech giant Apple (AAPL).
Apple claims that OpenAI encouraged its former staff to share confidential data, including engineering drawings, product plans, and hardware details, while OpenAI builds its AI devices. As a result, the tech giant is seeking damages and a court order to stop the alleged conduct. Apple has also demanded that OpenAI destroy any confidential information that may have been obtained through the alleged theft.
OpenAI has denied these allegations, saying it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets” and is focused on building its own technology. The legal issues arise as the company reportedly prepares for a potential initial public offering (IPO).
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