And then there were none: Musk's last xAI cofounder is out

In a significant shift within Elon Musk's artificial intelligence venture, xAI, the last remaining co-founder has announced his departure. Ross Nordeen, who played a pivotal role in the company's formation and reported directly to Musk, left on Friday, as confirmed by sources familiar with the situation. His exit leaves Musk with just one co-founder from the original team of eleven. Nordeen's departure comes amid a restructuring phase at xAI, coinciding with preparations for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX, which acquired the AI startup earlier this year. The 36-year-old, who previously served as a technical program manager on Tesla's Autopilot team, was instrumental in coordinating priorities and executing projects at xAI. His exit is part of a broader trend at the company, which has seen eight co-founders leave since January. Notable departures include key figures such as Manuel Kroiss and Guodong Zhang, who were involved in critical AI model training and development. Many of these exits began following SpaceX's merger with xAI, leading to a series of organizational changes initiated by Musk. Despite boasting a substantial valuation of around $250 billion, xAI is still in the race behind industry giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. In light of the recent departures, Musk acknowledged that the original structure of xAI was flawed, stating that it is being rebuilt from the ground up. The company is actively seeking new talent, having recently recruited several senior leaders from the AI coding platform Cursor, indicating a renewed focus on strengthening its workforce. As xAI navigates these challenges, the future direction of the company remains uncertain, with a significant emphasis on attracting fresh expertise to drive its AI initiatives forward.