xAI’s Final Co‑Founder Exit Signals Big Shake‑Ups Ahead

The last of the original team that helped Elon Musk launch xAI has left, a move that comes as the company readies for a major change in its structure. Ross Nordeen, who had been Musk’s right‑hand man and handled day‑to‑day priorities, stepped away this week. He is no longer listed on the company’s X profile.

Nordeen was a key figure from the start, joining Musk when they moved together from Tesla to build xAI in 2023. He had earlier managed programs on Tesla’s Autopilot and helped expand data centers for the Full Self‑Driving system. The engineer also played a role in cutting costs at Twitter after Musk’s takeover and is close friends with Musk’s cousin, James.

This departure follows a wave of exits that began after xAI merged with SpaceX in February. The merger was part of Musk’s plan to prepare for a potentially record‑breaking IPO for the rocket maker. Since then, eight other co‑founders have left, including leaders of major projects like pretraining and image generation. Many of the people Musk put in charge of key initiatives have departed, prompting a series of reorganisations.

xAI has been reshuffling its teams for months. It cut staff from video and image projects, such as Grok Imagine and Macrohard, an AI agent effort. Despite a valuation of about $250 billion, the startup still lags behind giants like OpenAI and Anthropic in size and influence.

Musk has openly admitted that the original build of xAI was flawed and that the company is being rebuilt from scratch. He says it is actively hiring, even reaching out to candidates who were previously rejected. In recent weeks, the firm welcomed a dozen new hires, including senior leaders from AI coding firm Cursor.