According to 1M AI News , on the same day that co-founders Guodong Zhang and Zihang Dai confirmed their departure and Grok Imagine head Haotian Liu announced his departure, Musk posted an apology on X, stating: "Many talented people have been rejected by xAI for offers and even interview opportunities over the past few years, my apologies." He indicated that he and Human Capital co-founder Baris Akis were reviewing the company's interview records and proactively contacting promising candidates who had been rejected.
Hours earlier, Musk wrote in a reply to Guillaume Verdon (online name Beff Jezos), founder of the e/acc movement: "xAI wasn't built properly to begin with, so it's being rebuilt from the ground up. Tesla went through the same thing back then." As of now, 9 of the 11 original co-founders of xAI (excluding Musk) have left, leaving only Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen.
