Billionaire Elon Musk's AI startup xAI has made an unexpected adjustment recently. According to a report by Bloomberg citing informed sources, xAI has temporarily paused the hiring of specialists responsible for training and optimizing its Grok chatbot. This move suggests that the company may be undergoing a strategic internal adjustment in its path to developing artificial intelligence technology and enhancing model expertise.

Specialization Leads to Staffing Shortages

Since the beginning of this year, to make the Grok chatbot perform better in specific areas such as tax, finance, science, and humor, thereby expanding its user appeal, xAI has been actively recruiting accountants, financial experts, scientists, and even comedians globally. Unlike competitors who heavily rely on third-party outsourcing teams to train AI, xAI insists on directly hiring individuals with deep professional backgrounds, referring to these positions internally as "AI mentors."

However, this high demand for top talent has posed significant challenges to its internal management. According to informed sources, the main reason for the hiring pause is that xAI's human resources department has become overwhelmed, with a large volume of resumes and a lengthy screening process causing frequent delays in handling new candidate interviews.

Business Adjustments Support Parent Company's IPO

Although the internal team has experienced ongoing turmoil, including multiple rounds of layoffs targeting "generalists" in data labeling last autumn and in March this year, internal sources emphasize that this hiring pause is a temporary measure, and xAI may resume and expand this talent pool in the future. With the hiring suspended, xAI is focusing more on efficiently utilizing its current workforce.

Currently, xAI has been merged with SpaceX, Musk's other company, for four months, and the entire team is working hard to rebuild its operational system and increase overall revenue. These frequent organizational and business adjustments are aimed at paving the way for SpaceX's ambitious plan to list on Wall Street this month.