SpaceXAI, the artificial intelligence company that Elon Musk just renamed after the merger between SpaceX and xAI, is witnessing a large-scale wave of personnel leaving.
According to The Information, more than 50 researchers and engineers have left the company since February, including many key personnel in charge of programming, platform AI models and Grok voice technology.
The report said that competitors such as Meta and Thinking Machine Labs are actively attracting former SpaceXAI employees.
Meta alone is said to have recruited at least 11 personnel from xAI since the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, at least 7 people have moved to Thinking Machine Labs, an AI company founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer - Mira Murati.
Previously, TechCrunch also reported on 11 cases of resignation immediately after the merger, including both co-founders of xAI. This move has raised concerns about the stability of the research team at the AI company backed by Musk.
One of the notable issues is the decline of the "pre-training" team, which is the first important stage in building new AI models.
After the leader Juntang Zhuang left, this core group is said to only have a few members left. According to The Information, this raises doubts about whether SpaceXAI will continue to pursue its ambition to develop leading AI models.
In addition to personnel factors, high-pressure work culture is also considered a reason why many engineers leave the company.
Some sources say that Elon Musk has set too tight timelines for the Grok model training process, forcing the development team to cut back or skip some important steps.
However, not all resignations stem from work pressure. Some employees are said to want to take advantage of the opportunity to liquidate shares when SpaceX regularly organizes internal share sales.
Expectations for a large IPO in the future also make many people believe that they can make significant profits without continuing to stick to a high-intensity working environment.
