Musk ousts more xAI founders as AI coding effort falters, FT reports
Yahoo Finance·2026-03-13 16:25

Group 1 - Elon Musk has initiated further job cuts at xAI due to dissatisfaction with the performance of the startup's coding division, leading to the departure of several co-founders [1][2] - The management of xAI was overhauled last month in preparation for a potential initial public offering, which could be one of the largest ever, following its merger with SpaceX [1] - Co-founder Guodong Zhang has confirmed his departure after being blamed for issues with the coding product, while another co-founder, Zihang Dai, also left recently, reducing the number of co-founders from 12 to 2 [2][3] Group 2 - The restructuring has reportedly harmed employee morale at xAI, with staff expressing concerns that it hinders the company's potential [3] - There is a trend of researchers leaving xAI due to burnout from Musk's demanding work environment or better offers from competitors, with recruiters reaching out to previously rejected candidates [4] - xAI has recently hired Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg from the code-generation startup Cursor, indicating ongoing recruitment efforts despite the recent upheaval [5]

Musk ousts more xAI founders as AI coding effort falters, FT reports - Reportify