On February 27, Elon Musk's AI startup xAI once again experienced a major personnel upheaval, as its co-founder **Toby Pohlen** officially announced his departure. This change marks that within less than three years of the company's founding, seven of the original 12 co-founders have confirmed their exit, with the founder team's turnover rate exceeding 50%.

xAI, Musk, artificial intelligence, AI

Toby Pohlen confirmed the news on the social media platform X, acknowledging the team's ability to deliver under extreme work pressure and revealing that he will take a short break before rethinking his career direction. Musk subsequently expressed gratitude for his contributions during the early stages of xAI's development. As a challenger to OpenAI, xAI has been under high industry expectations since its inception. Its flat organizational structure and "all-nighter culture" have driven the rapid iteration of the Grok model and computing centers, but the organizational stability under high-pressure conditions is now being tested.

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As the field of generative AI enters deeper waters, the movement of top talent often signals subtle adjustments in technical paths or governance models. Although xAI continues to maintain a strong R&D pace due to its strong financial reserves and the synergistic effect of Musk's ecosystem, the intensive loss of core founding members may have a profound impact on its long-term technological accumulation and corporate culture building.