New Delhi: Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI is seeing fresh turbulence just weeks after its merger with SpaceX. Nearly half of its original founding team has now exited, raising questions at a time when the company is preparing for a public listing.
Today, another co-founder confirmed his departure, marking the second exit in just two days. The timing is striking. xAI has been facing regulatory heat across the US, Europe, India and parts of Asia over its Grok chatbot and image tools. Now, leadership churn is adding to the pressure.
xAI: Two co-founders exit in 48 hours
Monday night, Yuhuai Tony Wu posted on X that he was stepping away. “It’s time for my next chapter,” Wu wrote. “It is an era with full possibilities: a small team armed with AIs can move mountains and redefine what’s possible.”
Less than a day later, Jimmy Ba followed. In his post, Ba said, “Enormous thanks to @elonmusk for bringing us together on this incredible journey. So proud of what the xAI team has done and will continue to stay close as a friend of the team.” In another note, he added he was “Grateful to have helped cofound at the start.”
Ba, a University of Toronto professor, played a key role in research that shaped Grok version 4. He reportedly worked directly with Musk.
Nearly half of xAI’s founding team is gone
Six out of the original 12 founders have now left. The exits include:
- Kyle Kosic, who moved to OpenAI in mid 2024
- Christian Szegedy, who departed in February 2025
- Igor Babuschkin, who left to start a venture firm
- Greg Yang, who stepped back citing health issues
- Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba this week
By most public accounts, the departures appear amicable. Still, for a three year old AI lab gearing up for an IPO, this is not a small shift.
Regulatory heat and product scrutiny
The exits come as xAI faces probes linked to its Grok chatbot and image generator. Authorities began looking into the platform after it enabled mass creation of explicit deepfake images involving real people, including children. Legal and compliance teams are now under sharper scrutiny.
An IPO would bring even more attention. Musk has ambitious plans, including orbital data centres tied to SpaceX’s infrastructure. But in the AI race, speed matters. Grok competes with models from OpenAI and Anthropic. If it slips, investors will notice.