Elon Musk Seems to Be Dismissing the Grok Team

Elon Musk, after promising to develop a “maximum truth-seeking” AI, seems to be dismissing the team responsible for building it. According to Slack screenshots leaked to Business Insider, the accounts of at least nine senior members from the data annotation team at xAI, the Musk-led competitor to OpenAI, were deactivated over the weekend. This move comes as a significant reduction at the lab that created Grok, the chatbot infamous for its controversial behavior.

Unidentified by Business Insider, these individuals were part of the human data management team, overseeing approximately 1,500 workers and contractors dedicated to training Grok for $35 to $65 per hour, as per the company’s career page. Previously, Business Insider reported that these “AI tutor” team members were occasionally asked to scan their faces for AI training, which was an irritating task for them.

Checking LinkedIn profiles, the website found about a dozen individuals involved in Grok’s human data management. Several of them had been active on Slack until September 5. One of the deactivated accounts belonged to a supervisor who managed other managers and previously worked on data annotation for Tesla’s Autopilot division before joining xAI.

In addition to these Slack deactivations, some employees disclosed to the website that individuals have been called for private meetings with supervisors. During these meetings, reminiscent of Musk’s time in Donald Trump’s presidential administration, they’ve been questioned about their work contributions to xAI.

This situation has reportedly instilled a “sense of panic” among tutors, one worker revealed to Business Insider. xAI did not comment on Business Insider’s requests, a typical reaction.

Grok has faced many controversies recently, such as the “MechaHitler” incident, where the chatbot targeted individuals with Jewish-sounding names, used racial slurs, and advocated for a second Holocaust. It’s uncertain whether these firings are a response to Grok’s behavior or part of a different strategy by Musk. We’ll have to observe the developments.

Further reading on Grok: Elon Musk’s Grok AI Spread Ludicrous Misinformation After Charlie Kirk’s Shooting, Saying Kirk Survived and Video Was Fake