Elon Musk’s newly rebranded SpaceXAI is reportedly losing top talent, with more than 50 researchers and engineers leaving the company since February, according to The Information. Those leaving include key leaders across Coding, World Models, and Voice of Grok.
The company’s core pre-training team has been reduced to just a few people, with rivals such as Meta and Thinking Machine Labs reportedly scooping up former staff. At least 11 xAI employees have defected to Meta since February, Information reported. At least seven people left to join Mira Murati’s Thinking Machine Labs. TechCrunch previously reported on 11 people leaving xAI, including two who were announced shortly after the merger.
SpaceX acquired xAI (two companies owned by Musk) in February and has since introduced new leadership to the company. Musk changed the name of the combined company to SpaceXAI earlier this month.
According to The Information, the pre-training departure following the departure of team leader Juntan Juan is of particular concern to employees and those close to SpaceXAI. Pre-training is the first step in building a new AI model, but many are questioning whether the company is still working on a major model.
The report also found that Musk’s harsh work culture led to some staff leaving, and that employees at all of Musk’s companies, including Tesla, complained about this. Sources who spoke to The Information said Musk set unrealistic deadlines for training models, which led to Grok cutting corners.
Of course, some withdrawals may have been caused by a desire to cash out.
SpaceX regularly holds bids, allowing employees to sell their vested shares privately. Alternatively, some may simply be confident that their stock is close to liquid, given expectations for the company’s blockbuster IPO. Once employees see the economic light at the end of the tunnel, they are less likely to work for a company that puts undue pressure on them and may not be able to build the key models they want to work towards.
TechCrunch has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
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