The US federal district court dismissed the lawsuit for the second time. Reason: the allegations in SpaceX’s filing were already insufficient, so the court did not need to examine whether they were true. Additionally, the court rejected SpaceX’s request to refile the case in six months with revisions.
The case was brought in September 2025 by AI operator xAI, which now belongs to SpaceX. Company boss Elon Musk objects that competitor OpenAI poached personnel. Specifically, AI expert Xuechen Li allegedly took trade secrets from xAI to OpenAI. A separate lawsuit against Li and an FBI investigation are ongoing in parallel.
The court held that a routine interview question could not be construed as OpenAI inciting Li to betray trade secrets. Nor was a note reading “confidential material” on a presentation slide sufficient to prove that OpenAI knowingly received trade secrets. Even if SpaceX could prove that OpenAI knew Li had unlawfully obtained secrets, that would not be objectionable – active acquisition, exploitation, or disclosure to third parties, which the complaint does not allege, are prohibited.
Source: www.heise.de
