Elon Musk's AI firm xAI is undergoing significant job cuts and management upheaval, with multiple cofounders departing. This follows an audit by executives from SpaceX and Tesla, leading to dismissals over performance issues in the coding division.
The internal turmoil is reportedly damaging morale and causing a talent exodus due to burnout and better offers from rivals. Musk has publicly apologized for past hiring rejections and indicated he will re-contact promising candidates.
The restructuring precedes a planned massive IPO following xAI's merger with SpaceX. The company has also hired new talent from a code-generation startup amidst the ongoing changes.
Main Topics: Management and job cuts at xAI, employee departures and morale, talent recruitment challenges, upcoming merger and IPO.
Elon Musk has triggered a fresh wave of job cuts at his AI firm xAI, with more cofounders pushed out amid his dissatisfaction with the underperformance of the startup's coding division, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Musk last month overhauled the management of xAI, ahead of a planned initial public offering that could ârank among â the largest â ever, after merging the company with his rocket firm SpaceX.
He bought in "fixers" from SpaceX and Tesla to audit xAI, who let go of several employees whose work was deemed inadequate, according to FT.
Cofounder Guodong Zhang, head of xAI's Imagine team, told colleagues he was leaving after being blamed for issues with the coding product âand relieved of his primary duties by Musk, â the report âsaid, citing two people familiar with the decision.
He confirmed his departure in âa post âon X on Thursday.
Zihang Dai, another cofounder, reportedly left â xAI earlier this week. The exits leave the three-year-old âAI company with only two of its 12 co-founders âwho helped Musk set up xAI in March 2023, according to the report.
SpaceX, which purchased xAI to create a $1.25 trillion company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
XAI staff have complained that the upheaval is damaging morale and standing in the way of it âreaching full potential, the FT report said.
Researchers continue to leave because of burnout because of Musk's "extremely hardcore" work demands or âafter receiving âbetter offers from rivals.
Recruiters â have been contacting candidates who had previously been rejected to extend job offers, often with improved financial terms, the report said.
"Many talented people over the âpast few years were declined an offer or even an interview at xAI. My apologies," Musk said in an X post on Friday, adding that he will reach back out to promising candidates.
xAI bought in Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg from code-generation startup Cursor on Thursday.
Musk last month overhauled the management of xAI, ahead of a planned initial public offering that could ârank among â the largest â ever, after merging the company with his rocket firm SpaceX.
He bought in "fixers" from SpaceX and Tesla to audit xAI, who let go of several employees whose work was deemed inadequate, according to FT.
Cofounder Guodong Zhang, head of xAI's Imagine team, told colleagues he was leaving after being blamed for issues with the coding product âand relieved of his primary duties by Musk, â the report âsaid, citing two people familiar with the decision.
He confirmed his departure in âa post âon X on Thursday.
Zihang Dai, another cofounder, reportedly left â xAI earlier this week. The exits leave the three-year-old âAI company with only two of its 12 co-founders âwho helped Musk set up xAI in March 2023, according to the report.
SpaceX, which purchased xAI to create a $1.25 trillion company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
XAI staff have complained that the upheaval is damaging morale and standing in the way of it âreaching full potential, the FT report said.
Researchers continue to leave because of burnout because of Musk's "extremely hardcore" work demands or âafter receiving âbetter offers from rivals.
Recruiters â have been contacting candidates who had previously been rejected to extend job offers, often with improved financial terms, the report said.
"Many talented people over the âpast few years were declined an offer or even an interview at xAI. My apologies," Musk said in an X post on Friday, adding that he will reach back out to promising candidates.
xAI bought in Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg from code-generation startup Cursor on Thursday.
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