5 xAI Co-founders Depart — 3 Key Takeaways
- 5 out of 12 founders have left, leaving 7 remaining founding members
- Tony Wu is the most recent departure
- Talent outflow accelerates amid Grok controversy
Tony Wu’s Departure and Chain Reaction
xAI co-founder Tony Wu announced his departure on February 10th. He stated he was “starting the next chapter” and that “it’s an era where small teams armed with AI can move mountains.” This brings the total number of departed founding members to 5 out of 12.[TechCrunch]
Departures began in 2024. Kyle Kosic went to OpenAI, and Christian Szegedy went to Morph Labs. Igor Babuschkin left to start a venture capital firm, and Greg Yang resigned due to Lyme disease.[CNBC]
Timing Coincides with Grok Controversy
It has been revealed that Grok allowed the generation of non-consensual deepfakes based on real people, leading to regulatory investigations in several countries.[Bloomberg] While each departure has its own reasons, losing nearly half the company in less than 3 years is not a light signal.
Challenges for Remaining Members
The outflow of key personnel weakens xAI’s position in the competition with OpenAI and DeepMind. It remains to be seen where the remaining 7 members will lead xAI. Hope this helps.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Who has left xAI?
A: A total of 5 people: Kyle Kosic, Christian Szegedy, Igor Babuschkin, Greg Yang, and Tony Wu. Each has different reasons, including moving to competitors, starting a business, and health issues. Of the original 12 founding members, only 7 remain.
Q: What is the Grok controversy?
A: The Grok image generator allowed the mass generation of non-consensual deepfakes based on real people. Because it included images of children, regulatory investigations are underway in several countries.
Q: How many xAI founding members are there currently?
A: Originally 12, now 7 remain. 5 have resigned in the 2 years since 2024, and Musk himself continues to lead the company. The remaining members are responsible for Grok development and business expansion.
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References
- Nearly half of xAI’s founding team has now left the company – TechCrunch (2026-02-10)
- Tony Wu Leaves Musk’s xAI, Becomes Fifth Co-Founder to Exit Startup – Bloomberg (2026-02-10)
- Elon Musk’s xAI loses co-founder Tony Wu in latest senior departure – CNBC (2026-02-10)