Final Co-Founders Exit Elon Musk’s AI Startup, xAI
In a surprising development, Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, has seen the departure of its last two co-founders, Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen. Earlier in the month, nine of the original eleven co-founders had already left the company, leaving only Kroiss and Nordeen. This recent turn of events was first reported by Business Insider.
Co-founders Kroiss and Nordeen Part Ways with xAI
According to the report, Manuel Kroiss informed associates of his decision to leave xAI earlier in the week. Ross Nordeen followed suit by announcing his departure from the company on Friday. Both Kroiss and Nordeen were key figures in the company, reporting directly to Musk himself. While Kroiss led the pre-training team at xAI, Nordeen was often referred to as Musk’s “right-hand man.”
Nordeen’s Significant Role in xAI
Before joining xAI, Nordeen was part of Tesla, another of Musk’s ventures. Following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022, Nordeen was instrumental in planning significant layoffs at the social media giant. His departure from xAI marks the end of a significant chapter in the company’s history.
xAI’s Future Direction
The departure of the co-founders comes after Musk’s recent statements about xAI being “rebuilt from the ground up” as he felt it “wasn’t built properly” the first time around. This revamp coincides with Musk’s SpaceX acquiring xAI, indicating a consolidation of Musk’s tech ventures. With SpaceX reportedly planning to go public, the future of these interconnected companies is keenly anticipated.
TechCrunch has reached out to xAI for comment on these developments. As of now, there has been no official statement from the company or Elon Musk regarding the departures of Kroiss and Nordeen.
For more on this breaking news, visit the original story here.
