SpaceXAI, the AI division of Elon Musk, has faced a severe talent crisis following its merger and rebranding. Since February this year, more than 50 core researchers and engineers have left, and its core pre-training team has shrunk to just a few people. According to The Information, the list of departing employees includes leading figures in key technology areas such as coding, world models, and Grok voice, including former team leader Jun Tang Zhuang. Currently, Meta and Mira Murati's newly established Thinking Machine Labs have become the main destinations for these top talents, absorbing at least 11 and 7 former xAI employees respectively.

xAI, Musk, artificial intelligence, AI

The large-scale departure of talent is closely related to its corporate culture and internal changes. In February this year, SpaceX acquired xAI and appointed a new leadership team, and it was officially renamed SpaceXAI at the beginning of this month, but this led to organizational turmoil. Internal sources indicate that Musk's "extreme work culture" and the irrational delivery cycles he set caused shortcuts in the model development process, leading to doubts among technical elites about whether the company can continue to develop leading models. In addition, the regular stock liquidity opportunities provided by SpaceX and the high expectations for an IPO have objectively provided mobility support for employees seeking career changes.