xAI, the artificial intelligence company co-founded by Elon Musk, is rumored to be undergoing a crushing talent exodus. In the past week alone, at least nine high-profile engineers have announced their departures on Twitter. The company, which employs over 1,000 individuals, has experienced a wave of resignations that raises questions about its internal dynamics and future direction.
Among the notable departures is Yuhai (Tony) Wu who was the leading mind behind xAI’s reasoning and co-founding thought-leader. Wu to implement her agenda, but Wu unexpectedly resigned on February 10. They’ve spent more than seven years collectively working as engineers, researchers, and policy leads at Twitter, X, and xAI. His departure signifies a major change in the company’s leadership ranks.
Another co-founder, Jimmy Ba, departed xAI on February 10 as well. Ba was instrumental as the research and safety czar at the company. In his departure announcement, he reflected on his time here and expressed enthusiasm for what lies ahead. He thinks 2026 will be a breakthrough year, with productivity improvements making a significant impact.
This leads us to the second reason that more willing engineers have gone into a growing engineers’ exodus. On February 6, Ayush Jaiswal made waves with this tweet announcing that he is departing. He hopes to spend more time with his family and connecting with AI initiatives. Read more of his reflections below, which we’re sharing with his permission, and brace yourself for another round of genius AI inventions coming soon!
On February 7, Shayan Salehian, who was focusing on product infrastructure and model behavior after training at xAI, left. Salehian has written for X before and expressed his appreciation for his time at xAI. He thanked the platform with the following message, “I moved on from xAI to begin a new journey. I’m closing my 7+ year chapter at Twitter, X, and xAI with a grateful heart.”
Simon Zhai, another engineer who departed on February 9, took the time to speak with Futurism about his experience at xAI. He delivered his message with an upbeat attitude. Tarnoff made it seem like his time working at xAI was a positive experience. Today is my last day,” he said. I am incredibly grateful for that opportunity. It’s been a brilliant ride.
This trend of resignations is not just a recent phenomenon. The same month, another former xAI engineer Roland Gavrilescu exited the company. He recently announced that he’s working with several other xAI founders to build the successor. He said, “I left xAI. Building something new with others that left xAI. We’re hiring :)”
Former ML PhD Vahid Kazemi was a recent departure from the company. He is enthusiastic about the potential of pursuing those directions after being disillusioned with the current track of large language model development at the labs. He continued, “IMO, all AI labs are creating the same thing and it’s super boring…So, I’m doing something different.”
The high-profile departures raise new questions about morale at xAI. Yet, as the young company continues to grow in a whirlwind competitive space, stability is key. The company’s new leadership will have to navigate these radical shifts to continue the company’s path as a leading creator of cutting-edge artificial intelligence.