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xAI Axes 500 Jobs to Boost AI Tutor Team

9/13/2025

25 4

Summary

Story summary

On September 12, 2025, xAI laid off over 500 workers from its data annotation team to focus on specialist AI tutors.
Employees received immediate termination emails, losing access to company systems.
The data annotation team was essential for developing the Grok chatbot.
xAI plans to expand its specialist AI tutor team tenfold.
Some workers voiced frustration over the short notice for testing, with one account deactivated shortly after.

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Story summary

On September 12, 2025, xAI laid off over 500 workers from its data annotation team to focus on specialist AI tutors.
Employees received immediate termination emails, losing access to company systems.
The data annotation team was essential for developing the Grok chatbot.
xAI plans to expand its specialist AI tutor team tenfold.
Some workers voiced frustration over the short notice for testing, with one account deactivated shortly after.