"On Friday night, xAI notified some employees on the team that they were being laid off via email that said the company was looking for more "specialist AI tutors," with deep knowledge of disciplines like science, technology, and finance, and cutting back its employment of "general AI tutor roles" without that specialized knowledge. Generalist AI tutors take on a range of broader tasks, like annotating videos and writing assignments."
""This strategic pivot will take effect immediately," the email, which was obtained by BI, read. "As part of this shift in focus, we no longer need most generalist AI tutor positions, and your employment with xAI will conclude." xAI CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Workers were told that they would lose access to company systems immediately, but that they would still be paid their salaries through either the end of their contract or Nov. 30."
"The move means the team, which leads AI training, is down to about 1,000 workers. The group is tasked with refining xAI's chatbot, Grok, by teaching it how to contextualize data. The company asked the team's employees to complete a series of tests on Thursday night that would help classify them based on their strengths and interests. The tests covered areas like coding, finance, and medicine. More than 200 employees completed the tests, which had a Friday morning deadline, per BI."
xAI reduced its 1,500-person data annotation team by about 500 workers, cutting the group to roughly 1,000 employees. The data annotation team trains AI by refining Grok and teaching contextualization of data. Employees were required to take tests covering coding, finance, and medicine to classify strengths and interests; more than 200 completed them before the deadline. A company email said the firm will prioritize specialist AI tutors with deep discipline knowledge and eliminate most generalist AI tutor roles. Affected workers lost immediate system access but will be paid through contract end or Nov. 30. xAI continues hiring specialist tutors.
Read at Entrepreneur
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