SpaceX Faces Talent Drain As 50+ xAI Staff Reportedly Exit For Meta, Thinking Machines

• All 11 of xAI’s original co-founders have now departed the company, according to the report.
• The exodus follows the all-stock acquisition that merged Elon Musk’s xAI into his rocket manufacturing firm SpaceX.
• Meta and Thinking Machines Lab have been among the most active recruiters of the former xAI talent.

More than 50 researchers and engineers have reportedly left xAI to join other tech firms, such as Meta Platforms and Thinking Machines Lab, since SpaceX acquired the artificial intelligence startup in February.

The departures, which include layoffs, firings, and voluntary exits, primarily involve staff working on xAI’s Grok large language models, The Information reported. All 11 of xAI’s original co-founders have now departed the company, according to the report.

SpaceX-xAI Merger

The exodus follows the all-stock acquisition that merged Elon Musk’s xAI into his rocket manufacturing firm SpaceX, creating one of the world’s most valuable private companies.

The Information noted that leaders of teams working on coding, world models, and Grok voice left the company earlier this month. The exits have effectively brought down the number of researchers at xAI from 200 as of late last year, the report said, while noting the culture of extreme overwork was a factor that likely contributed to the exits.

Who Is Hiring?

Meta and Thinking Machines Lab have been among the most active recruiters of the former xAI talent, offering substantial compensation packages, as per the report. Several alumni have also joined other frontier AI labs or launched their own ventures.

According to the report, Meta has hired at least 11 researchers and engineers from xAI since February, while Thinking Machines has roped in at least seven people over the same timeframe. Claude-parent Anthropic, meanwhile, hired at least two former xAI employees this year.

Musk’s Vision For SpaceX

Earlier this month, Musk said that xAI will be dissolved as a standalone company and fully integrated into SpaceX, rebranding its AI efforts as SpaceXAI.

The renaming comes as SpaceX prepares for one of the largest initial public offerings in history. The company is targeting a mid-2026 IPO — possibly as early as June — with valuations discussed in the $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion range.

How Do Retail Traders Feel?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPACEX trended within the ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels.

Meanwhile, sentiment around META stayed within the ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume stayed at ‘normal’ levels.

META stock has fallen 6% over the past 12 months. 

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