Elon Musk's Last Co-Founders Reportedly Depart xAI
The last two remaining co-founders of Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, have reportedly left the company as it undergoes a major foundational rebuild under SpaceX.
Key Points
- →Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen, the last of the 11 original co-founders, have reportedly left xAI.
- →The departures come shortly after Musk announced xAI is being rebuilt from the foundations up.
- →xAI was recently acquired by SpaceX, aligning it with Musk's other major corporate entities.
Key takeaways
- Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen, the last of the 11 original co-founders, have reportedly left xAI.
- The departures come shortly after Musk announced xAI is being rebuilt from the foundations up.
- xAI was recently acquired by SpaceX, aligning it with Musk's other major corporate entities.
A Complete Turnover
Reports indicate that the final two remaining co-founders of xAI, Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen, have exited the company. This marks the departure of all 11 original co-founders who helped launch Elon Musk's artificial intelligence venture. Kroiss, who led the pretraining team, and Nordeen, a key operator with ties to Tesla and Twitter, both reported directly to Musk.
Foundational Rebuilding
The exits follow recent comments from Musk stating that xAI 'was not built right the first time around' and is currently undergoing a foundational overhaul. This restructuring coincides with xAI’s acquisition by SpaceX, a move that brings Musk’s primary ventures—SpaceX, xAI, and X—under a unified corporate umbrella while SpaceX reportedly prepares for an IPO.
Shifting Leadership
Ross Nordeen’s departure is particularly notable given his history as Musk’s 'right-hand operator' and his involvement in the high-profile layoffs at Twitter in 2022. With no original co-founders remaining, the next phase of xAI appears to be entirely dependent on its new integration with SpaceX resources and staff.
Sources
Why it matters
The departure of all original co-founders signals a complete transformation of xAI's leadership and technical strategy as it merges into the SpaceX corporate ecosystem.
Staff writer at TechCrunch AI
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