Court likely to dismiss Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI

A federal judge in the US has indicated that she may dismiss a lawsuit filed by xAI, Elon Musk's startup, against OpenAI, which it accuses of stealing trade secrets in the development of artificial intelligence. Judge Rita Lin of the San Francisco Federal Court said on Friday that her preliminary opinion is to grant OpenAI's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which will be discussed at a hearing on February 3.

She also indicated that xAI could amend its claims if the court ultimately dismisses the lawsuit. Legal representatives for both companies did not immediately comment on the matter.

Musk's company filed the lawsuit in September, alleging that OpenAI obtained confidential information about the Grok chatbot through former xAI employees. OpenAI denies the allegations and calls them part of a campaign to damage a competitor.

The judge said that xAI had not presented convincing evidence that OpenAI had obtained or used trade secrets. The claim of unfair competition also remains disputed.

The dispute is part of a broader legal conflict between Musk and OpenAI, which he co-founded. In a separate lawsuit, Musk is seeking $134.5 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, with jury selection scheduled for late April.

(reuters, est)