Judge dismisses Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI which the company claims is part of his “ongoing campaign of harassment”

A federal judge in California has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s AI company xAI’s against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, reported Reuters. US District judge Rita Lin said that xAI has failed to allege that the Sam Altman-led company committed any misconduct, the news agency said. The lawsuit, originally filed in September 2025, claims that xAI employees who left the company for new jobs at OpenAI took source code related to its Grok chatbot and other confidential information with them. Dismissing the lawsuit, the judge said that xAI can refile the case.

What the judge said dismissing lawsuit against OpenAI

As quoted in the Reuters report, judge Lin said “Notably absent are allegations about the conduct of OpenAI itself.”


“xAI does not allege any facts indicating that OpenAl induced xAI's former employees to steal xAl's trade secrets or that these former xAI employees used any stolen trade secrets once employed by OpenAI. While xAI may state misappropriation claims against a couple of its former employees, it does not state a plausible misappropriation claim against OpenAI, which is the sole defendant in this case. Accordingly, and for the reasons set forth below, OpenAI's motion to dismiss is GRANTED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND.”

OpenAI responds

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), OpenAI wrote:


“We welcome the court's decision. This baseless lawsuit was never anything more than yet another front in Mr. Musk's ongoing campaign of harassment."


In the post, the AI company also shared a link to what it claims to be “The truth about Elon Musk and OpenAI” which it says “present the facts”. “Elon is trying everything he can to slow down OpenAI for his personal benefit. Here, we present the facts,” the page reads.


The lawsuit is part of a broader legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. Musk has separately filed a lawsuit over OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit company. The Tesla CEO is seeking $134.5 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft in that case. Jury selection is scheduled for April 27, 2026.