xAI loses two co-founders after SpaceX merger
xAI loses two co-founders after SpaceX merger
Two xAI co-founders exit within hours after a SpaceX merger, signaling leadership shifts as the AI startup navigates a high-stakes 2026.
Two co-founders at Elon Musk's AI venture xAI have stepped away within hours of each other, marking a rare leadership shake-up after the SpaceX merger. Tony Wu resigned, followed by Jimmy Ba, who posted on X with gratitude for the journey and a nod to the team's camaraderie: 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. Thank you all for the grind together. The people and camaraderie are the real treasures at this place. Ba added, It's time to recalibrate my gradient on the big picture. He also noted, 2026 is gonna be insane and likely the busiest (and most consequential) year for the future of our species.
Ba was a core researcher and a co-founder, central to the Grok series—helping develop Grok models and contributing to Grok 4. He was among 12 xAI co-founders when the company launched in 2025, underscoring how quickly the leadership landscape is changing at the startup.
Before them, several other co-founders stepped away: Igor Babuschkin, Kyle Kosic, and Christian Szegedy, with Greg Yang leaving just last month for health reasons. The departures come as xAI merged with SpaceX, a move that has sharpened focus on the company’s post-merger path and its ambitions in a high-stakes tech arena.
Observers will be watching how these shifts influence xAI’s direction as it operates in the wake of the SpaceX tie-up and pursues its bold mission—pushing humanity up the Kardashev tech tree—under a new leadership horizon. The pair’s exits add to a broader pattern of turnover among early co-founders, highlighting the fast-changing dynamics of AI startups at a time when investors and researchers alike are tracking the next phase of the field.
