Most of xAI's original co-founders have left since 2023

In short: xAI has lost nine of its 11 original co-founders since it launched in 2023, with only Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen still at the company.

What's going on

xAI is Elon Musk’s AI company, founded in 2023 with a group of 11 co-founders. As of March 2026, reporting says nine of those original co-founders have left. That leaves two still at xAI: Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen.

Several departures happened recently. TechCrunch reported that Zihang Dai and Guodong Zhang left in mid-March. Earlier in February 2026, Jimmy Ba and Yuhuai (Tony) Wu also left, along with founding member Toby Pohlen on February 26.

Other co-founders left earlier, including Greg Yang in January 2026 for health reasons. TechCrunch also lists earlier exits such as Kyle Kosic (left in 2024), Christian Szegedy (left in February 2025), and Igor Babuschkin (left in August 2025). Some reports describe a slightly different founding count, but the central point is consistent across sources: most of the original co-founders are now gone.

What to watch

Leadership turnover like this matters because co-founders are often the people who set a company’s direction, like the first architects on a building. The departures come as Musk has talked about reorganizing for faster work, and as xAI is linked to big corporate moves, including a reported acquisition by SpaceX and talk of a future public stock offering (an IPO, when a company starts selling shares to the public). Watch whether xAI replaces these leaders quickly, and whether the company’s products and priorities shift as a result.

Source: TechCrunch AI