Half Elon Musk’s xAI Cofounders Flee Before AI Learns to Quit Too
KEY POINTS
- •Elon Musk founded xAI in 2023 to challenge Google and OpenAI, but has lost six of its eleven cofounders by early 2026.
- •Recent departures include top leaders like Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba, who thanked Musk for 'the ride of a lifetime' in February.
- •xAI is merging with SpaceX to build AI data centers in orbit and a moon catapult, amidst company restructuring and aggressive hiring.
Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI—founded in 2023 with an ambition to out-Google Google and OpenAI—is hemorrhaging talent like a rocket with screen doors. Two cofounders, Jimmy Ba and Tony Wu, quit within 48 hours in February 2026, with six out of 11 original cofounders now doing the digital ghost. These folks didn't just leave; they thanked Musk for 'the ride of a lifetime,' which doubles as a euphemism for chaos. Meanwhile, xAI plans a cosmic merger with SpaceX to launch AI data centers from a self-sustaining moon city using a lunar catapult. The startup burned billions last year and is reshuffling to 'improve speed of execution,' aka a polite way to say 'axing staff.' If SpaceX's $1.5 trillion IPO goes well, maybe xAI’s remaining crew can finally catch a break from sending Grok chatbot off into X-generated controversy and employee exits.
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Elon's xAI is like a hockey team where half the players quit mid-game to build a moon catapult no one asked for. AI lab or cosmic mess? Forgot to program a loyalty chip apparently.
When your AI company is launching satellites from the moon but can't keep half its cofounders from vanishing, you've officially invented space drama.
xAI's staff turnover rate is so high it makes Twitter layoffs look like a reunion. Must be tough asking engineers to build rocket-powered chatbots in orbit.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 2/27/2026 | Author: Tom Carter,Hugh Langley,Lee Chong Ming
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