SpaceX's artificial intelligence unit is experiencing a significant exodus of talent. Multiple sources familiar with the matter reveal that since SpaceX's acquisition of xAI in February, over 50 researchers and engineers responsible for developing the Grok large language model have left the AI lab. The departures include layoffs, terminations, and voluntary resignations. Prior to this, all co-founders of xAI except Elon Musk had already left the company.
Key developments since February include: - More than 50 R&D personnel have departed from what is now known as SpaceX AI. - Former SpaceX AI employees have been heavily recruited by Meta Platforms and Thinking Machines Lab. - The pre-training team at SpaceX AI has been reduced to just a handful of members.
This talent drain coincides with major changes within the AI division, including the appointment of new management by SpaceX, plans for an unconventional acquisition of the programming startup Cursor, and Anthropic securing all computing capacity from one of xAI's two supercomputing data centers.
Sources indicate that this month alone, team leads for code development, world models, and Grok's voice mode have all departed. Musk officially renamed xAI to SpaceX AI earlier this month. These team leaders had all been with the company for less than a year.
An industry insider familiar with the situation noted that xAI's research staff numbered over 200 at the end of last year but has significantly decreased this year.
As of early May, with the departure of pre-training lead Zhuang Juntang and others, the large model pre-training team at SpaceX AI has been left with only a few members. Pre-training is the most critical initial phase in developing next-generation AI models.
This year's series of personnel changes has led many inside and outside the company to question whether SpaceX AI remains committed to developing cutting-edge large models. However, Musk himself has stated his intention to continue deep investment in this field.
While movement of core researchers among top AI labs is common—xAI itself sued OpenAI last year for allegedly poaching employees, a case dismissed by a federal judge in February—former SpaceX AI employees report that the pace of departures has accelerated noticeably this year, leading to low team morale and making subsequent hiring more difficult.
In March, weeks after SpaceX acquired xAI at a $250 billion valuation, Musk stated that xAI's initial structure and model setup had serious issues and was undergoing comprehensive reorganization. In May, he announced the dissolution of xAI's independent corporate structure and its rebranding to SpaceX AI. In recent weeks, teams from Cursor and SpaceX personnel have moved into xAI's offices to discuss business and work arrangements with remaining staff.
Several former employees cited Musk's demanding, high-intensity work culture as a significant factor driving this talent loss. Two sources said that during periods when Musk was highly focused on the AI business, he required teams to be on call for meetings seven days a week at the Palo Alto, California office. Other employees noted that Musk set unrealistic deadlines for model training, forcing teams to take shortcuts and simplify processes, which ultimately harmed the performance of the Grok model.
Musk's assertive management style is also evident in his ongoing legal dispute with OpenAI. Musk had funded OpenAI for years before founding xAI in 2023. In court testimony this Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Musk of causing "significant harm" to OpenAI by demanding that management force-rank researchers and carry out large-scale layoffs of core personnel.
This wave of departures has largely gone unreported, with only some employees announcing new positions on social media. SpaceX has not responded to requests for comment.
Meta and Thinking Machines Lab have been actively hiring from this talent pool. Sources say Meta has recruited at least 11 researchers and engineers from xAI since February, while Thinking Machines Lab has hired at least 7. The AI startup, founded by Mira Murati, now has over 150 employees.
Two former SpaceX AI researchers have joined MiroMind, an AI startup founded by Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao. One of them, Li Beibin, who briefly led the SpaceX AI code team, left just weeks ago.
Anthropic has also hired at least two former xAI employees this year, including co-founder Ross Nordeen, who was responsible for infrastructure. Nordeen announced his move to Anthropic on the same day the company publicized its partnership with SpaceX AI. He was the last remaining member of the xAI founding team besides Musk.
Beyond research and AI engineers, other significant departures from xAI since February include Chief Financial Officer Anthony Armstrong and several leads for data center and AI tutoring operations.
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