Staff complain that xAI is flailing because of constant upheaval

March 14, 2026

TL;DR

Elon Musk has ordered new job cuts at xAI due to frustration with its coding product's poor performance.
"Fixers" from SpaceX and Tesla are auditing xAI, leading to the dismissal of some employees and co-founders.
The startup is being rebuilt from the ground up, with a focus on catching up to competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI.
Key co-founders Zihang Dai and Guodong Zhang have departed following criticism and blame for issues with the coding product.
Musk is redeploying resources and personnel, including Ashok Elluswamy from Tesla, to reboot the "Macrohard" project and develop a "digital Optimus."
Employees report that constant upheaval is damaging morale and hindering progress.
xAI has a large data center in Memphis, Tennessee, and benefits from data from Musk's social media network X.
Despite a memo denying mass layoffs, researchers are leaving due to burnout and better offers from rivals.
xAI is actively recruiting, reaching out to previously unsuccessful candidates and poaching talent from other AI companies like Cursor.

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