Two former OpenAI employees and a group of AI safety nonprofits have penned an open letter to potential investors, warning that Elon Musk's AI lab, xAI, could complicate SpaceX's planned IPO. The letter highlights 'unpriced risks' related to xAI’s poor safety record, potentially complicating the rocket company's plans to raise up to $75 billion.

The authors argue that if xAI continues developing frontier AI models, it should publish a public safety and governance plan. They point to incidents like Grok, xAI’s chatbot, bringing up controversial topics and generating sexualized images of women and children on Musk's social media platform X.

Former OpenAI policy adviser Page Hedley claims that xAI has the worst safety practices compared to other AI developers. This could lead to increased regulation and litigation risks for SpaceX as it prepares its IPO prospectus filing. The letter calls for greater disclosures from SpaceX regarding xAI’s future plans and safety measures.

The authors believe that while xAI may have made some improvements, more transparency is needed for investors to fully assess the AI safety risks associated with SpaceX. One of the signatories, co-founder Steven Adler, hopes his new nonprofit, Guidelight AI Standards, can help hold AI labs accountable as an independent third party.