xAI Faces Legal Dispute Over Data Collection Practices

A former xAI software engineer has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in a California court. The engineer claims he was wrongfully terminated for refusing orders to carry out user data scraping that violated state privacy laws.

Key details are as follows:

• Data Collection Methods: The engineer claims he raised internal warnings that xAI's scraping scripts were bypassing security blocks on major platforms, but Musk ignored these warnings and ordered 'zero friction' data acquisition.
• Reason for Termination: He stated he was fired within 48 hours of refusing to run a script specifically targeting medical forums.
• Scale of the Lawsuit: The plaintiff is seeking $15 million (approximately 20 billion KRW) in damages, and the lawsuit could subject xAI's internal data collection practices to legal discovery.

This dispute comes at a time when xAI is pursuing a $6 billion funding round aimed at raising its corporate valuation.