A purge has taken place over at xAI, according to the latest reports, as the company laid off 500 employees under data annotation roles.
The company is set to deliver new developments to its artificial intelligence technology, which would center on more advanced capabilities, knowledge, and specializations.
xAI Lays Off 500 Data Annotation Employees
Business Insider shared a new report that reveals internal messages sent out by xAI informing employees that they are being laid off by the company as it looks towards the next steps in its development.
According to the report, the message notes that the company is now making a "shift in focus," which is the main reason for the layoffs.
It was revealed that this latest layoff makes up one-third of the data annotation team, which had 1,500 employees working on labeling and preparing the data meant for Grok's training.
xAI: Shifting to More Specialized Roles
The shift in focus mentioned by xAI centers on its latest approach in training Grok, which will rely more on specialized professionals and experts in the field.
According to xAI's statement shared via X, the company is looking to "surge" its specialized AI tutor team by 10 times as it looks for new people across industries like STEM, safety, medicine, finance, and more to create its version of a "truth-seeking AGI."
Specialist AI tutors at xAI are adding huge value. We will immediately surge our Specialist AI tutor team by 10x!
— xAI (@xai) September 13, 2025
We are hiring across domains like STEM, finance, medicine, safety, and many more. Come join us to help build truth-seeking AGI!https://t.co/htpc2RijLG
xAI's Developments and Technology
xAI has made waves in the AI industry for both good and controversial reasons. One of the most recent developments from the company is the release of the new Grok version that Elon Musk and the company boasted of, only for it to feature antisemitic sentiments and controversial views against Democrats.
xAI has also been the main technology that is exclusively featured on the X platform. Most recently, X has given xAI the reins to bring more integration of the machine learning technology to the platform, with the generative AI chatbot now allowed to create Community Notes on behalf of real-person contributors.
While xAI's developments are controversial, the company has strived to bring more powerful AI and experiences to users, and because of this, they are now sharing their technology with other platforms, similar to OpenAI and more.
Originally published on Tech Times
