Hajra Naz
Elon Musk is “actively” pushing to make xAI’s Grok chatbot “more unhinged,” according to a former employee who spoke to The Verge about the recent wave of departures from the company.
The comments come during a turbulent week for xAI. After SpaceX announced it would acquire the AI startup, which had previously absorbed Musk’s social platform X, at least 11 engineers and two co-founders revealed they were leaving. Some described their exits as moves to launch new ventures. Musk, for his part, framed the departures as part of a broader restructuring aimed at better organizing the company.
However, two former employees told The Verge that internal frustrations run deeper. At least one of them left before the most recent round of exits. Both reportedly described growing disillusionment among staff, particularly around what they saw as the company’s weakening commitment to safety.
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Their concerns intensified after Grok was used to generate more than 1 million sexualized images, including deepfakes depicting real women and minors, an episode that drew international criticism and regulatory attention.
One former employee told the outlet bluntly, “Safety is a dead org at xAI.” Another claimed Musk “is actively trying to make the model more unhinged because safety means censorship, in a sense, to him.”
Beyond safety concerns, former staff also pointed to what they described as a lack of strategic clarity. One source said the company appeared to be “stuck in the catch-up phase,” struggling to match the pace of competitors in the rapidly evolving AI race.
Together, the accounts paint a picture of internal tension at a company attempting to reposition itself amid consolidation, scrutiny, and escalating competition.
