According to Business Insider, xAI has laid off at least 500 employees from its data labeling team. Staff were informed of the layoffs via email on Friday.
The affected employees were part of the team known as “general AI trainers,” whose main role was to process raw data to help Grok better understand the world.
The company stated that employees would continue to receive their salaries until the end of their contracts, or at the latest until November 30, but their access to company systems was immediately restricted following the layoff announcement.
These layoffs raise questions about the company’s strategic direction. In response to comments about the cuts, xAI referred to a post on its social media, noting that it continues to hire in other areas and plans to increase the number of expert AI trainers tenfold.
The incident comes shortly after the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Mike Liberatore, left his position in July after only a few months on the job. The first report of his departure was published by The Wall Street Journal.
