Okay, Now Exactly Half Of xAI’s Founding Team Has Left The Company

Six of xAI's 12 founding members have departed in 2026, raising questions about Elon Musk's AI ambitions ahead of SpaceX IPO.
Matilda
Okay, Now Exactly Half Of xAI’s Founding Team Has Left The Company
xAI Founders Exodus: Half the Team Has Left Six of xAI's twelve founding team members have now departed the company, with two high-profile exits occurring within 48 hours this week. Co-founders Yuhuai "Tony" Wu and Jimmy Ba announced their resignations on February 10 and 11, 2026, bringing the total number of founding departures to exactly half the original team. Five of these six exits have occurred within the past year alone, coinciding with SpaceX's recent acquisition of xAI and preparations for a mid-2026 public listing that could value the combined entity at over $1 trillion. Credit: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty Images The rapid succession of leadership departures has sparked concern among industry observers about xAI's stability as it races to advance its Grok AI models amid intensifying competition. While both Wu and Ba framed their exits as voluntary transitions to "next chapters," internal sources suggest mounting pressure to deliver accelera…