xAI Co-founder Tony Wu Latest to Depart, Raising Concerns About Stability
SAN FRANCISCO - xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, is facing further instability as co-founder Yuhuai (Tony) Wu announced his departure from the company late Monday night. Wu's exit marks the fifth departure from the original 12-person founding team, raising questions about the company's future.
Wu announced his departure on X, stating, "Its time for my next chapter...a small team armed with AIs can move mountains and redefine whats possible." His statement, while expressing optimism, follows a trend of high-profile departures from xAI. Infrastructure lead Kyle Kosic left for OpenAI in mid-2024, followed by Google veteran Christian Szegedy in February 2025. Igor Babuschkin departed to found a venture firm in August 2025, and Greg Yang, a Microsoft alum, left last month, citing health issues.
The departures come as xAI, which reportedly had 1,200 employees as of March 2025, continues to develop its AI models, including the chatbot Grok. The reasons for the departures have varied, but the consistent loss of founding members suggests potential internal challenges. The mention of a "small team" in Wu's departure announcement could hint at a potential reason for his leaving, according to one source.
The ongoing departures raise concerns about the company's ability to maintain momentum and retain talent in the competitive AI landscape. While Wu expressed positive sentiments about his time at xAI, the pattern of exits suggests a need for the company to address potential underlying issues.
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