All of the Key XAI Workers Who Have Left Elon Musk’s AI Startup Lately

xAI cofounder Tony Wu introduced his resignation from the corporate on February 9. In a publish on X, the previous Google researcher stated it was time for his “subsequent chapter” and thanked Musk for “the experience of a lifetime.”

Enterprise Insider’s Grace Kay beforehand reported that Wu started reporting on to Musk final yr and led xAI’s reasoning efforts.

Jimmy Ba turned the second xAI cofounder to announce his departure from the corporate in lower than 48 hours.

The manager, who beforehand oversaw the startup’s AI tutoring efforts, additionally thanked Musk for the chance and stated he was happy with what xAI had completed in a publish on X.

Ba’s departure implies that six out of the 11 cofounders who launched xAI with Musk in 2023 have now left the corporate.

Dangle Gao, a member of technical employees, additionally introduced in an X publish on February 10 that he had left xAI.

The Berkeley alumnus, who labored on xAI’s Grok Think about AI video generator, described his time on the firm as “distinctive and memorable.”

Vahid Kazemi, a member of xAI’s technical employees, stated on X on February 11 that he had left the corporate just a few weeks prior. “That was quick! IMO, all AI labs are constructing the very same factor, and it is boring. I feel there’s room for extra creativity,” he wrote, including that he was beginning “one thing new.”

Kazemi joined xAI final yr and, earlier than that, labored at OpenAI. He additionally beforehand labored at Google and Apple.

Ayush Jaiswal labored on Grok at xAI and introduced on February 6 that it was his final week on the firm. “Shall be taking just a few months to spend time with household & tinker with AI,” he wrote in a publish on X. Jaiswal joined xAI in September 2025, in accordance with his LinkedIn profile. Earlier than that, he was head of development at Scale AI.

Shayan Salehian stated on February 7 that he was leaving after a seven-year stint throughout Twitter and X to construct one thing new.

He labored on the X timeline in addition to numerous Grok fashions, he stated in a publish on X. He added that he’s leaving to work on one thing “targeted on accelerating science.”

“Working intently with Elon throughout X and xAI, I noticed what occurs if you refuse to just accept not possible as a solution,” he wrote on X.

Simon Zhai, a member of the xAI technical employees, joined the corporate in October 2025 and introduced his departure on February 9.

“At present is my final day at xAI, feeling very lucky in regards to the alternative. It has been an incredible journey,” he wrote in a short departure publish on X. Earlier than xAI, Zhai was a analysis scientist at Google DeepMind.

Member of technical employees Andrew Ma wrote in an X publish on February 11 that he had left xAI this week.

Ma labored on X’s suggestion system and was “solely accountable” for writing a brand new model of the platform’s person search algorithm, in accordance with his LinkedIn.

The previous Twitter engineer praised xAI’s “wartime mentality” and thanked Musk for “creating this org that the world wants.”

Radhakrishnan Venkataramani wrote in an X publish on February 12 that he had left xAI this week.

The previous Google and Fb engineer joined xAI final July, per his LinkedIn, and labored on reasoning and reinforcement studying programs for Grok, in addition to the corporate’s coding mannequin.

In his farewell publish, Venkataramani stated he was “grateful” to have been a part of xAI, calling the corporate “probably the most hardcore workforce ever.”

Rahul Ravishankar, a member of technical employees at xAI, stated February 13 was his final day on the firm.

The Berkeley graduate, who joined Musk’s AI startup final yr, wrote on X that leaving xAI was “one of many hardest choices” he had ever made.