Elon Musk's AI start-up loses another co-founder
21 Jan 2026

Greg Yang, the co-founder of Elon Musk's artificial intelligence start-up xAI, has announced his resignation after being diagnosed with Lyme disease.

The former Microsoft employee was one of the founding members of xAI in 2023.

In a post on X, Yang said he would continue to serve as an informal adviser while focusing on his recovery from the illness.

Yang's health condition and its impact on xAI
Health concerns

Yang hinted that he might have contracted Lyme disease a while ago, with symptoms becoming apparent during his intensive work at xAI.

The illness is caused by tick bites and results in inflammation.

His departure comes after the exit of two other co-founders, Igor Babuschkin and Christian Szegedy, who left the company last year.

Yang's exit raises questions about xAI's future
Leadership concerns

Yang's exit, along with the previous departures of Babuschkin and Szegedy, has raised questions about xAI's leadership and future plans.

The impact on the company's product roadmap is still being assessed.

Despite these changes, deadlines have been set for Grok 5 in January 2026 and a Department of Defense GenAI.mil platform at IL5 (Impact Level 5) in Q1 2026.

Yang's departure opens doors for new talent
Recruitment opportunities

The exit of co-founders from xAI could prompt tech recruiters and rival AI labs to consider other employees for potential job changes.

Former xAI staff with experience in product management, data annotation, or infrastructure engineering have already started appearing on public profiles.

This could give companies an opportunity to hire people who have directly worked on Grok or xAI infrastructure.