xAI hits with exit wave, Elon Musk’s conducts companywide meeting to reassure team

In a striking turn of events, xAI has seen the departure of two co-founders within a mere 48 hours, resulting in a notable shake-up in its leadership team. This situation prompted CEO Elon Musk to hold an all-hands meeting to address the concerns of remaining employees. According to sources from the New York Times, Musk emphasized that the recent exits will not derail the company’s long-term vision or operational performance. While he refrained from directly commenting on the departures of co-founders Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba, he acknowledged their contributions and thanked them during the session. During the meeting, Musk reassured the team that they should continue to pursue the company’s strategic initiatives. He elaborated on impending restructuring efforts and mentioned an intriguing merger with SpaceX. Musk unveiled ambitious plans to establish a factory on the moon dedicated to producing AI satellites, stating, "You have to go to the moon. It’s difficult to imagine what an intelligence of that scale would think about, but it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it happen." Musk also highlighted the progress of the platform X, which boasts 600 million monthly active users. He hinted at upcoming features, including X Money for banking services and a dedicated chat application. Musk expressed optimism about user engagement, stating, "We’ll obviously give people reasons, compelling reasons, to use the app every day, and I expect well over a billion daily active users." The all-hands meeting, originally scheduled for last week, was postponed until February 10, coinciding with the announcement of the SpaceX merger that has sent ripples through the tech industry. The recent co-founder departures are speculated to be linked to this merger, raising questions about potential internal restructuring or strategic disagreements among the leadership. Despite the turbulence, xAI remains focused on its future, with plans for a potential IPO in 2026 outlined in an internal memo.