xAI engineer resigns over Grok 3 ranking on X

Benjamin De Kraker, an AI engineer at Elon Musk's xAI, resigned on February 12, 2025, after refusing to delete an X post ranking AI models, including xAI's upcoming Grok 3.

The post sparked a debate about free speech and confidentiality.

De Kraker ranked Grok 3 below several OpenAI ChatGPT models, which xAI claimed violated confidentiality principles.

The company asked him to remove the post, but he refused.

"I either had to delete the post quoted below, or face being fired...I’ve decided that I’m not going to delete the post -- which is very clearly a harmless personal opinion," he stated in a post on X.

In the post, De Kraker ranked AI models based on their "programming compilation capabilities," placing the yet-to-be-released Grok 3 below several OpenAI models.

The ranking included "Grok 3 (expected, tbd)," which xAI considered a breach of confidential information, even though Musk had publicly discussed Grok 3.

De Kraker argued that the post was his personal opinion and contained no proprietary information.

Some individuals sided with xAI, suggesting that employees should not undermine a company's unreleased products.

De Kraker had been working at xAI for nearly half a year, primarily responsible for the development of Grok AI.

Despite the controversy, De Kraker wished xAI success but criticised its leadership for stifling free speech.