Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has laid off at least 500 workers from its data annotation team, which plays a crucial role in training the company’s chatbot, Grok. The layoffs were announced via email on Friday night, informing employees that their positions were being eliminated as part of a strategic pivot towards specialist AI tutors.
The data annotation team, xAI’s largest division, is responsible for teaching Grok to understand and contextualise raw data by categorising it. Affected employees were informed that they would continue to receive compensation through the end of their contracts or until November 30; however, their access to company systems was terminated immediately upon receiving the layoff notice.
In response to the layoffs, xAI announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it plans to expand its specialist AI tutor team tenfold, focusing on areas such as STEM, finance, medicine, and safety. The company emphasised its commitment to building a “truth-seeking AGI” and is actively recruiting for roles across these specialised domains.
The layoffs follow a series of organisational changes at xAI, including the departure of Chief Financial Officer Mike Liberatore in late July after a brief tenure. Musk established xAI in 2023 to compete with major tech companies in the AI field, advocating for reduced censorship and enhanced safety measures in AI development.
