Tesla, xAI, and X executives are leaving en masse due to exhausting work and political disagreements with Musk – FT
Kyiv • UNN
Dozens of top managers have resigned from Tesla, xAI, and X due to an exhausting work pace, political disagreements with Elon Musk, and mass layoffs. This has led to the cancellation of the affordable electric car program and a reorientation towards robotics and AI.
Dozens of top managers have left Elon Musk's companies – Tesla, xAI, and X – over the past year. The reasons include exhausting work, disagreements with the businessman's political views and decisions, and staff burnout. This is reported by the Financial Times, citing former and current employees of the companies, writes UNN.
Details
According to FT sources, many executives left after several years of work to pursue their own projects or take a career break. At the same time, the number of those leaving companies due to the exhausting pace of work, disagreements with Musk on business development, the entrepreneur's political views, and mass layoffs is growing.
The workload on staff particularly increased after the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. xAI employees note that Musk's rivalry with Sam Altman became one of the reasons for the additional pressure. In Tesla, which was previously considered stable, the departure of top managers began after the layoff of 14,000 jobs in April 2024 and a reduction in investments in new electric vehicle and battery projects.
The program for creating the budget electric car NV-91 (Model 2) was also canceled, and instead, Musk decided to invest in robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous taxis. Among those who left Tesla are Daniel Ho, Director of Automotive Programs (moved to Waymo), Rebecca Tinucci, Head of the Supercharger Charging Station Project (Uber), and David Zhang, Head of Model Y and Cybertruck Production.
xAI and X also faced the departure of executives. Employees criticize Musk for his stance on free speech and disregard for user safety during competition with OpenAI and Google. X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigned after the acquisition of xAI, and xAI co-founder and chief engineer Igor Babushkin launched his own artificial intelligence safety project.
He's the boss, the alpha, and he'll find a way to get rid of those who don't accept his style.
At the same time, according to Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm, the company remains "a magnet for talent."
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