Another cofounder is exiting Elon Musk's xAI ahead of a highly anticipated IPO

In a significant shift for xAI, cofounder Manuel Kroiss has announced his departure from the company, leaving just one cofounder alongside Elon Musk. Known in the industry as "Makro," Kroiss was part of the original team of 11 engineers who launched the AI venture in 2023. His exit marks the tenth departure among the cofounders, as several others, including Guodong Zhang and Zihang Dai, have stepped away since January. Kroiss played a pivotal role in pretraining AI models, a process crucial for the development of the company’s technology, and reported directly to Musk. His work also included enhancements to xAI's coding models, collaborating closely with Zhang, who left only months earlier. Elon Musk recently commented at the Abundance Summit, acknowledging that xAI is currently lagging in coding capabilities but is committed to outpacing competitors in this area. Previously, Kroiss had experience with tech giants Google and DeepMind before joining xAI. With Kroiss’s departure, only Ross Nordeen, who transitioned to xAI from Tesla, remains as a cofounder. The company has been undergoing significant organizational changes, with Musk assuming direct management of numerous reports while integrating talent from Tesla and SpaceX. Reports indicate that xAI has also seen a considerable reduction in its workforce in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Musk shared on X that the foundational structure of xAI was flawed and that a comprehensive rebuild is in progress. He also noted that the company is revisiting previous applicants to recruit new talent, highlighting the potential of many skilled individuals who were previously overlooked. Following its acquisition by Musk's SpaceX earlier this year, xAI is poised to file for an initial public offering later this year, with projections valuing the company at an astonishing $1.5 trillion.