Is safety 'dead' at xAI?

Former employees of xAI described the company's safety practices in stark terms to The Verge. One source said safety is a dead org at xAI. Another source said Musk is actively trying to make the model more unhinged because safety means censorship in a sense to him. Musk is actively working to make the company's Grok chatbot more unhinged according to a former employee. The comments reflect growing disillusionment among employees over the company's disregard for safety. The issue has prompted global scrutiny after Grok was used to create more than 1 million sexualized images including deepfakes of real women and minors. The two sources who spoke to The Verge left the company with at least one departing before the current wave. This week at least 11 engineers and two co-founders said they are leaving xAI. Some said they are departing to start something new. Musk suggested the exits are part of an effort to organize xAI more effectively. Employees also complained about a lack of direction with one source saying xAI was stuck in the catch-up phase compared to competitors.