Krux
February 15, 2026
Half of xAI's Founders Just Quit After SpaceX Merger
Published: February 15, 2026 at 8:12 AM
Updated: February 15, 2026 at 8:12 AM
100-word summary
Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba, two of xAI's co-founders, resigned this week—dropping the original 12-founder team down to just six. The exits hit right after SpaceX's all-stock acquisition of xAI merged the companies into a $1.25 trillion behemoth eyeing a 2026 IPO. Wu led Grok's reasoning work while Ba ran research and safety. Musk called it a "reorganization" to boost execution speed and promised aggressive hiring. Multiple co-founders have bailed over two years, amid Grok controversies and regulatory heat. The founder exodus raises questions about internal alignment as Musk consolidates his AI and space empires under one roof ahead of a blockbuster public debut.
What happened
Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba, two of xAI's co-founders, resigned this week—dropping the original 12-founder team down to just six. The exits hit right after SpaceX's all-stock acquisition of xAI merged the companies into a $1.25 trillion behemoth eyeing a 2026 IPO. Wu led Grok's reasoning work while Ba ran research and safety. Musk called it a "reorganization" to boost execution speed and promised aggressive hiring. Multiple co-founders have bailed over two years, amid Grok controversies and regulatory heat.
Why it matters
The founder exodus raises questions about internal alignment as Musk consolidates his AI and space empires under one roof ahead of a blockbuster public debut.