Elon Musk's Human Resources Chessboard: Chaotic Layoffs, Unusual Hiring

Silicon Valley is once again in turmoil, and the focus is none other than Elon Musk and his artificial intelligence "baby" xAI. Hundreds of employees were fired. Meetings were described as "chaotic". Senior leaders were in turmoil.

But behind that seemingly crisis-like picture, a bold and somewhat "unconventional" personnel reshaping strategy is being quietly implemented by Musk, revealing the future not only of the Grok chatbot but also of the entire technology industry.

Inside the chaotic "blood change"

It all started in early September and escalated to a climax in mid-month. At least 600 employees on the “Human Data” team – the core force responsible for training and labeling data for AI Grok – received termination notices.

The way the cuts were carried out showed the ruthlessness, even coldness, that is Elon Musk's "trademark." Many employees said they only learned they were being laid off when they suddenly lost access to Slack, the company's internal communication platform.

“People were just sitting there watching the number of members in the chat channels dwindle,” one employee told Business Insider. Data showed that xAI’s Slack account count dropped from more than 1,500 to around 900 in just a few days.

The chaos came to a head at a team-wide meeting on September 15. Diego Pasini, the new data labeling lead, reassured employees that there would be no more layoffs. He even announced plans for a 10% pay raise and a tenfold expansion of the team. But within hours of that pledge, more than 100 people received termination emails.

The meeting was also described by many employees as "chaotic" as it was limited to just 500 attendees, while the group size at that time was still nearly 1,000 people, leaving half unable to grasp information directly.

Ván cờ nhân sự của Elon Musk: Sa thải hỗn loạn, tuyển dụng kiểu lạ đời - 1 — Data shows that the number of xAI's internal Slack accounts evaporated from more than 1,500 to only about 900 in just a few days (Photo: Getty).

Blood transfusion strategy: From generalist to specialist

On the surface, xAI seems to be contradicting itself, with mass layoffs and claims of “crazy hiring.” However, a deeper analysis shows that this is a strategic restructuring, a “bloodbath” of personnel to serve a clearer goal.

Previously, xAI employed a large team of generalist tutors who could work on a variety of projects, from reviewing videos and audio to developing Grok’s overall “personality.” Now, the company is aggressively eliminating these generalist positions to focus on recruiting specialty tutors.

xAI’s new job listing says it all. The company is looking for professionals in deep-learning fields like STEM ( Science , Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), finance, law, and programming.

More notable are the emergence of extremely specific, even somewhat strange positions, such as " meme and headline comment" expert or "Grok personality and behavior development expert". One recruitment test even has a category for "shitposters and doomscrollers" - slang terms for people who specialize in posting nonsense, satire and people who have a habit of reading negative news online.

To attract talent for these positions, xAI is not hesitant to offer attractive salaries, from $45 to $100/hour, significantly higher than the previous $35-65/hour. This is a clear signal: Musk is willing to pay a premium for quality and differentiation, rather than quantity.

This strategy shows Musk's ambition to turn Grok into not only a smart AI that answers academic questions, but also a chatbot with a unique personality, humor, sarcasm and deep understanding of online culture - the elements that have made Elon Musk's own brand on social network X.

Not just an xAI story

The upheaval in xAI is not an isolated phenomenon. It reflects two major trends that are reshaping the entire global technology industry.

First, the instability in Elon Musk's "empire". At the same time as xAI laid off staff, Chief Financial Officer Mike Liberatore also resigned after only a few months. At Tesla, another Musk company, veteran engineer Giorgio Balestrieri quit and publicly criticized the billionaire's leadership style and decisions. These events raised questions about the stability and work culture at Musk's companies.

Second, and more importantly, is the widespread layoffs that AI has brought. According to data from Layoffs.fyi and other aggregated sources, the tech industry has seen more than 166,000 job cuts since the start of 2025. Giants like Intel (33,900 cuts), Microsoft (19,215), and even Amazon, Oracle, and Meta are all in the process of massive downsizing.

“This isn’t just a short-term macroeconomic adjustment, it’s a long-term restructuring of the tech industry around automation and AI,” said Alan Cohen, data analyst at RationalFX. Many companies are using AI itself to automate back-office, HR, and even low-level programming tasks, leading to layoffs in these roles and a refocusing of resources on high-level AI engineers and data scientists.

xAI’s story is a prime example of this trend. It’s not just laying off people, it’s rebalancing its workforce. General data labeling jobs, which may be partially automated in the future, are being replaced by roles that require creativity, deep expertise, and a level of sophistication that machines can’t yet replicate, like identifying a meme or assigning a personality to an AI.

The shake-up at xAI, while chaotic and controversial, is essentially a strategic move to sharpen its core competitive weapon: the differentiation of its bot Grok. Elon Musk is betting that in a world full of look-alike AI chatbots, unique personalities and deep domain expertise will be the key to winning.

This human chess match is also a harsh reminder for tech workers: the era of generalist skills is over. The future belongs to specialists who can do things that AI can’t—at least for now.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/van-co-nhan-su-cua-elon-musk-sa-thai-hon-loan-tuyen-dung-kieu-la-doi-20250918104811817.htm