Editorial illustration for Six of xAI’s twelve original co‑founders, including Ba, have left Musk’s startup
xAI Founders Flee Musk's AI Startup in Mass Exodus
Six of xAI’s twelve original co‑founders, including Ba, have left Musk’s startup
Half of xAI’s founding team has vanished. Six of the twelve original co‑founders are gone now, the latest being Ba, whose exit was confirmed this week. The turnover isn’t new; earlier this year Igor Babuschkin, a former DeepMind and OpenAI researcher, walked away, followed by Yuhuai “Tony” Wu.
The departures have left a skeletal core in a startup that still boasts ambitious roadmaps and high‑profile backers. While the tech team reshapes itself, the remaining leadership faces a stark reality: rebuilding momentum without the very people who helped set the initial direction. Questions linger about continuity, talent pipelines, and whether the remaining staff can sustain the early hype.
Yet, amid the churn, one of the remaining founders insists the broader vision still matters.
Despite these promising prospects at xAI, he says he wants "to recalibrate my gradient on the big picture."
Despite these promising prospects at xAI, he says he wants "to recalibrate my gradient on the big picture." With Ba's departure, six of xAI's twelve original co-founders have now left--half the core team. Previous departures include Igor Babuschkin (formerly at DeepMind and OpenAI), Yuhuai (Tony) Wu (formerly at Google and Stanford), Kyle Kosier (formerly at OpenAI), Greg Yang (formerly at Microsoft Research), and Christian Szegedy (formerly at Google). February 10, 2026: After Igor Babushkin, another xAI co-founder has announced his departure.
Tony Wu, who was responsible for developing the company's foundational models and reasoning capabilities, reported directly to Musk. He joined xAI from Google when the company was founded in 2023.
Six co‑founders gone. What does that mean for xAI? Jimmy Ba, a former University of Toronto assistant professor who studied under Geoffrey Hinton, announced his exit in a brief farewell post.
He reminded readers that xAI’s stated mission is to push humanity up the Kardashev technology scale and warned of recursive self‑improvement loops. “I want to recalibrate my gradient on the big picture,” Ba wrote, hinting at personal priorities beyond the startup. His departure brings the total number of original founders who have left to half of the twelve‑person founding team, joining earlier exits such as Igor Babuschkin and Yuhuai (Tony) Wu.
The remaining half now bears the burden of delivering on ambitious goals without the insight of several early architects. It's unclear whether the reduced core can maintain momentum; the company’s next moves will reveal if the vision can survive such turnover. No further details about replacements or restructuring have been disclosed.
Uncertain future.
Further Reading
- Papers with Code - Latest NLP Research - Papers with Code
- Hugging Face Daily Papers - Hugging Face
- ArXiv CS.CL (Computation and Language) - ArXiv
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Common Questions Answered
How many of xAI's original co-founders have left the company?
Six out of the twelve original co-founders have departed from xAI, which represents exactly half of the startup's founding team. The notable departures include Igor Babuschkin, Yuhuai (Tony) Wu, Kyle Kosier, Greg Yang, Christian Szegedy, and most recently, Jimmy Ba.
Why did Jimmy Ba decide to leave xAI?
Jimmy Ba stated he wanted to 'recalibrate my gradient on the big picture', suggesting a desire to reassess his personal and professional priorities. His departure is part of a broader trend of high-profile exits from xAI, and he remains committed to the broader mission of pushing humanity forward technologically.
What backgrounds do the departed xAI co-founders come from?
The departing co-founders have impressive academic and industry backgrounds, including researchers from top institutions like DeepMind, OpenAI, Google, Stanford, Microsoft Research, and the University of Toronto. Many of these individuals were leading experts in artificial intelligence before joining xAI's founding team.