Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is experiencing a significant wave of leadership departures, with two more cofounders leaving the company this week. According to people familiar with the matter, Zihang Dai departed xAI earlier this week, while Guodong Zhang has informed colleagues of his plans to leave in the coming days. The xAI cofounder exodus marks a dramatic shift for the company that launched less than three years ago.
These latest departures follow the recent exits of several other xAI cofounders, including Toby Pohlen, Jimmy Ba, Tony Wu, and Greg Yang, all of whom left since January. After Dai and Zhang depart, only two of the 11 people who originally started the company with Musk in 2023 will remain: Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen.
Key Roles Vacated by Departing xAI Cofounders
Zhang held a particularly important position at xAI, reporting directly to Musk and leading two critical projects: Grok Code and Grok Imagine. Business Insider previously reported that he received an expanded role at the company earlier this year, shortly before Wu’s departure. His exit comes at a crucial time for the company’s coding capabilities.
During a presentation at the Abundance Conference on Wednesday, Musk acknowledged challenges with the company’s coding performance. He stated that “Grok is currently behind in coding” and explained that he was late to the conference because he was in an all-hands meeting addressing the issues. Musk expressed confidence that xAI would exceed competitors on coding capabilities.
Background of Departing Leadership
Before joining xAI, Zhang worked at Google DeepMind and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, according to his LinkedIn profile. Meanwhile, Dai served as a member of the technical staff at xAI after working at Google and completing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Both declined to comment when reached by phone, and an xAI spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, xAI announced new hires to address the leadership gap. Jason Ginsberg and Andrew Milich, who previously led product engineering at AI coding company Cursor, joined the company and announced their positions on X on Wednesday.
Musk Explains Restructuring at xAI
In response to an X post about the new hires, Musk defended the changes by comparing them to his experience at Tesla. “xAI was not built right first time around, so is being rebuilt from the foundations up,” he wrote. “Same thing happened with Tesla.”
Additionally, the company has shed dozens of employees since January as part of a broader reorganization. Musk announced the restructuring last month, explaining that some staffers would be let go as a result. The cuts have impacted workers on several key projects, including Macrohard, the company’s AI white collar project, and Grok Imagine, its AI image and video generator.
During a February all-hands event later posted on X, Musk explained the rationale behind the changes. “Because we’ve reached a certain scale, we’re organizing the company to be more effective at this scale,” he said. “And actually, when this happens, there’s some people who are better suited for the early stages of a company and less suited for the later stages.”
Timing and Corporate Changes
The reorganization occurred shortly after xAI was acquired by SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company. Meanwhile, SpaceX is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering this year that could value the company at $1.5 trillion. Zhang was among a handful of xAI leaders who presented at the February all-hands meeting.
Business Insider reported this week that the Macrohard project has since stalled at xAI. In contrast, Musk stated on X that xAI is now collaborating with Tesla on the project, suggesting a strategic shift in how the company approaches certain initiatives.
The full impact of the xAI cofounder departures on the company’s product development timeline and competitive position remains to be seen. With new leadership from the AI coding sector now in place, the company’s ability to accelerate its coding capabilities and stabilize its workforce will likely determine its trajectory in the coming months.
