Aug 29 (Reuters) -

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has sued a

former engineer at the company for allegedly stealing trade

secrets related to its Grok chatbot and taking them to rival

OpenAI.

Musk's company said in the complaint filed on Thursday in

California federal court that Xuechen Li stole confidential

information related to "cutting-edge AI technologies with

features superior to those offered by ChatGPT" to bring to his

new job at OpenAI earlier this month.

Li, representatives of OpenAI and attorneys and

spokespersons for xAI did not immediately respond to requests

for comment on Friday. OpenAI is not a defendant.

The complaint underscores the rivalry between Musk's company and

OpenAI and a fierce battle among tech companies for AI talent.

Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, has separately sued the company and

its CEO, Sam Altman, for allegedly deviating from its original

mission to benefit humanity. OpenAI countersued Musk in April

for harassment.

Musk's xAI filed another lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple ( AAPL )

in Texas on Monday for allegedly monopolizing the

market for AI chatbots on Apple ( AAPL ) devices.

The new lawsuit said Li began working as an engineer for xAI

last year, where he helped train and develop Grok. The company

said Li took its trade secrets in July, shortly after accepting

a job from OpenAI and selling $7 million in xAI stock.

Musk's startup said that the secrets could allow OpenAI to

bolster ChatGPT with xAI's "more innovative AI and imaginative

features."

The lawsuit said Li admitted to stealing company files and

"covering his tracks" during a meeting on August 14, and that

the company later found additional stolen material on his

devices that he had not disclosed.

Musk's AI company asked the court for an unspecified amount

of monetary damages and a restraining order blocking Li's move

to OpenAI.