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xAI Founder Exodus Deepens After SpaceX Merger and Musk’s Reorg

Liquidity from newly issued SpaceX shares is fueling employee spinouts.

Overview

  • Co‑founders Jimmy Ba and Yuhuai (Tony) Wu announced departures this week, leaving roughly half of xAI’s original 12 cofounders still at the company.
  • At least five additional staffers have left, with several publicly saying they are starting new AI ventures.
  • Elon Musk says the restructuring under SpaceX is designed to speed execution and is paired with hiring, alongside pitched plans for space‑based AI data centers.
  • Musk posted an all‑hands recording outlining four product areas: Grok Main and Voice, Coding, Imagine, and Macrohard.
  • Former employees report the safety function was gutted and describe a catch‑up strategy, citing Grok’s turn toward NSFW outputs.