Last XAI Cofounder, Ross Nordeen, Leaves As Musk Preps for SpaceX IPO
Business Insider • • general
Key Points:
- Ross Nordeen, the last of Elon Musk's original xAI cofounders, has left the company amid ongoing reorganizations and preparations for SpaceX's upcoming IPO, which acquired xAI earlier this year.
- Nordeen, who reported directly to Musk and was instrumental in coordinating company priorities, followed Musk from Tesla to cofound xAI in 2023 and previously worked on Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems.
- Since January, xAI has seen the departure of eight cofounders and numerous leaders, coinciding with SpaceX's merger with xAI and Musk's restructuring efforts to rebuild the company from the ground up.
- Despite being well-funded with a valuation around $250 billion, xAI faces challenges competing with larger AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, leading to team cuts and project cancellations such as Grok Imagine and Macrohard.
- Musk has acknowledged initial missteps in building xAI and is actively recruiting new talent, recently hiring senior leaders from other AI companies to strengthen the team ahead of the company's strategic relaunch.
