Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, has announced his departure from the company to launch a new venture dedicated to AI safety research. In a post on X, Babuschkin said, “Today was my last day at xAI,” revealing that his new firm, Babuschkin Ventures, will invest in research initiatives and startups working on the safe development of artificial intelligence.
Babuschkin, who previously held positions at Google DeepMind and OpenAI, played a pivotal role in shaping xAI from its inception. He recalled the “early scramble” to establish infrastructure and AI models, noting that he developed many of the core tools used to train and manage xAI’s systems. Over time, his responsibilities expanded to overseeing engineering across infrastructure, product, and applied AI projects.
His exit marks another significant leadership loss for Musk’s ventures. Earlier this month, xAI’s legal head, Robert Keel, resigned, and just weeks before that, Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of X, the social media platform Musk integrated into xAI. Leadership changes have also been unfolding at Tesla, further highlighting turbulence across Musk’s business empire.
Musk responded to Babuschkin’s announcement with an unusually warm message: “Best of luck, Igor.” The brief reply stood out to many observers, given Musk’s history of blunt exchanges with former colleagues.
Babuschkin’s departure comes amid an intense AI industry race, with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic pouring resources into cutting-edge systems that could shape the future of technology. xAI, launched in 2023, has been positioning its chatbot Grok as a more open and less censored alternative to mainstream offerings like ChatGPT.
While details of Babuschkin Ventures remain limited, his decision to focus on AI safety resonates with a growing global push by researchers, regulators, and policymakers to ensure AI development is both responsible and transparent.
For Musk, the challenge now lies in retaining top talent at xAI while competing with industry giants with far greater financial and technical resources. For Babuschkin, the move represents a shift from building AI systems to funding projects that aim to make AI safer, potentially attracting strong interest from investors committed to ethical technology development.
