Two senior co-founders of Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, Jimmy Ba and Tony Wu, have stepped down within two days of each other, marking another big leadership change at the fast-growing artificial intelligence company. Their exits come just three years after the startup began operations and reduce the original founding group even further. Both announced their decisions through short public posts and kept the tone positive, with no direct criticism.
Still, their departure adds to growing questions around xAI’s internal direction, pressure to scale faster, and rising competition in the AI race.
Why Jimmy Ba & Tony Wu Resigned From xAI
Jimmy Ba shared that he was thankful to have helped build xAI and praised the team and its mission. He said it was time to “recalibrate” and focus on the bigger picture, hinting that the coming year will be extremely important for AI and humanity.
I resigned from xAI today.
This company – and the family we became – will stay with me forever. I will deeply miss the people, the warrooms, and all those battles we have fought together.
It’s time for my next chapter. It is an era with full possibilities: a small team armed…
— Yuhuai (Tony) Wu (@Yuhu_ai_) February 10, 2026
His message sounded reflective rather than angry. Tony Wu posted a day earlier and described xAI as a family. He said he would miss the intense work culture and collaboration but is ready for a new chapter where small AI-driven teams can create a big impact.
Neither Ba nor Wu gave a specific operational reason for leaving. However, reports suggest there has been internal pressure to improve model performance faster and compete more aggressively with other AI labs.
Last day at xAI.
xAI’s mission is push humanity up the Kardashev tech tree. Grateful to have helped cofound at the start. And enormous thanks to @elonmusk for bringing us together on this incredible journey. So proud of what the xAI team has done and will continue to stay close…
— Jimmy Ba (@jimmybajimmyba) February 11, 2026
There are also reports of disagreements around strategy and pace. So while their posts were warm and respectful, the timing has raised eyebrows in the tech world.
xAI Co-Founder Exits Raise Questions About Company Stability
Ba and Wu are not the only founders to leave. Several original co-founders have exited over the past two years, and one recently stepped back due to health reasons.
That means roughly half of the original leadership group is no longer active at the company. On top of that, xAI is said to be spending heavily on data centres, computing power, and talent, which creates financial pressure even for well-funded AI firms.
The company is also facing regulatory scrutiny in multiple regions over misuse risks tied to its AI image tools. Back-to-back leadership exits, rising costs, and regulatory probes naturally lead to speculation about instability.
Still, there is no official sign that operations are slowing. For now, xAI continues building models and expanding, but leadership churn is becoming a noticeable part of its story.
