xAI leadership turnover has intensified as another founding engineer prepares to leave, extending a series of high-level departures during a broader internal reset. Manuel Kroiss, known as Makro, was among the original engineers who helped launch the company in 2023 and had been leading pretraining while also working on coding model improvements.
The latest move leaves Ross Nordeen as the only remaining cofounder besides Elon Musk. Several other senior figures were reported to have stepped away in recent months, while Musk has publicly acknowledged that the company needs rebuilding and has taken a more direct role in managing the business.
This xAI leadership turnover matters beyond staffing changes. Recent internal shifts reportedly include a changing organizational structure, added involvement from Tesla and SpaceX personnel and workforce reductions as the company attempts to reset its technical direction.
The timing also adds weight to the situation. SpaceX acquired xAI earlier in 2026 and the transition is unfolding as SpaceX explores a potential public listing at a far higher valuation than its most recent private-market pricing. That overlap suggests xAI’s leadership changes are tied not only to product execution, but also to Musk’s wider effort to align operations and investor expectations across his companies.
