Elon Musk’s xAI parts ways with another co-founder in a two-day span, marking a turbulent moment for the fast-growing artificial intelligence startup.
Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, has now seen two of its founding members walk away within just 48 hours. On Tuesday, respected AI researcher Jimmy Ba publicly confirmed his departure in a post on X, expressing gratitude for being involved from the very beginning and thanking Musk for the opportunity.
Ba’s exit followed closely on the heels of fellow co-founder Tony Wu, who announced his own decision to leave the company just a day earlier. The near-simultaneous departures have raised fresh questions about internal changes at xAI, especially at a time when the company is undergoing major structural and strategic shifts.
Leadership Shake-Up During a Critical Phase
The co-founder departures come shortly after xAI completed a high-profile merger with SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company. The all-stock transaction reportedly valued SpaceX at around $1 trillion, while xAI was pegged at approximately $250 billion, according to documents reviewed by CNBC. SpaceX is also expected to pursue a public listing later this year, adding even more pressure during an already pivotal period.
Jimmy Ba, a professor at the University of Toronto, played a significant role in shaping xAI’s technical direction. He was widely credited for research that influenced the development of the company’s Grok version 4 AI models. His departure follows a broader pattern, as several other early figures—including Igor Babuschkin, Kyle Kosic, and Christian Szegedy—have also stepped away from the venture. Meanwhile, Greg Yang revealed last month that he would reduce his involvement to focus on treatment for Lyme disease.
Regulatory Scrutiny Intensifies
The leadership changes are unfolding alongside mounting regulatory challenges. xAI is currently facing probes across multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, and the United States. These investigations were triggered after the company’s Grok chatbot and image-generation tools were allegedly used to create and distribute non-consensual explicit images, often referred to as deepfake pornography. Some of the reported content involved images generated from real people’s photos, including minors, significantly escalating regulatory concerns.
From Bold Vision to Growing Pressure
Musk launched xAI in 2023 with a team of 11 co-founders, positioning the company as a challenger to AI heavyweights like OpenAI and Google. At launch, xAI’s stated mission was ambitious—to “understand the true nature of the universe.”
Now, as Elon Musk’s xAI parts ways with another co-founder in a two-day span, the company finds itself navigating leadership turnover, regulatory scrutiny, and the complexities of a massive corporate merger—all while trying to maintain momentum in the fiercely competitive AI race.
