The xAI company’s ethics and data labeling team has embarked on a dynamic restructuring process, resulting in the reduction of at least 500 employees. This team continues to classify and interpret raw data to strengthen the relationship between the AI model and the world, and employment contracts were terminated with a notice sent to employees on the evening of Friday, September 12. The company noted that the contracts would continue until November 30, and salaries would be paid during this period. Immediately after the announcement, access to the xAI systems for employees was cut off.
Regarding the transition plan from general trainers to expert trainers, the company provided clear guidance through a share on the X platform. xAI announced that the role of general AI trainers would be replaced by “expert AI trainers” and stated that this team is expected to serve the company’s goal of increasing tenfold. Talents from STEM fields will be evaluated for the new functions; high-quality annotations supported by data, labels, and custom software will be used to develop AI. This new team will contribute not only based on textual data but also on audio recordings and video sessions.
Alongside the news of critical departures and the Grok 4 launch, xAI’s top-level departures continued, and the Chief Financial Officer, Mike Liberatore, also resigned. The Grok 4, introduced in July, was declared one of the smartest AIs in the world, and Musk stated that this version could achieve remarkable successes in SAT and GRE exams. He also mentioned that Grok might initiate the process of developing new technologies within this year, but he expressed surprise about the results expected no later than next year, which are still uncertain.
