What if your job vanished overnight, all because an AI decided it no longer needed you? That’s the harsh reality for hundreds at xAI, Elon Musk’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence company, after a jaw-dropping Friday night layoff that sent shockwaves through the tech world.

The AI generated newscast about layoffs at xAI is more than just another story—it’s a dramatic turning point for one of the world’s most ambitious AI projects. Late on Friday, over 500 workers from xAI’s data annotation team—those unsung heroes who painstakingly teach AI models to make sense of our world—were suddenly told they were no longer required. The digital notices were cold and clear: xAI was shifting its focus away from generalist tutors to a new, turbocharged team of specialist AI tutors. For many, that meant their jobs ended instantly, with access to internal systems cut off right after receiving the news. Although pay would continue through their contract’s end or until November 30, that did little to soften the blow.

This wasn’t just a minor reshuffle. Data annotation at xAI isn’t some back-office task—it’s the core of how xAI’s AI chatbot Grok learns to understand, reason, and interact with the world. At its peak, the main Slack room for annotators boasted over 1,500 members; by Friday evening, that number had dropped by hundreds—and the exodus kept growing as news broke.

A company spokesperson later pointed the media to a bold promise: xAI will ramp up its Specialist AI tutor team by a staggering 10 times, hiring in high-stakes domains like STEM, finance, medicine, and AI safety. In an X (formerly Twitter) post, xAI invited top experts to help build what they’re calling “truth-seeking AGI”—that’s Artificial General Intelligence, the holy grail of AI research. The AI generated newscast about this mass layoff doesn’t just stop at the numbers; it’s a signal of a whole new era in how AI is built, updated, and secured.

But behind the corporate spin, turmoil brewed. Layoff notices landed just days after senior staff—including the team’s head—had their accounts deactivated. Suddenly, workers found themselves in a dizzying flurry of one-on-ones, reviewing their achievements while being asked who among their peers deserved recognition. By Thursday night, whispers of a massive reorganization became a roar: all annotators were told to drop everything and complete a series of make-or-break tests—ranging from hardcore STEM and coding to “personality and model behavior,” and even specialties like handling “shitposters and doomscrollers.”

The man at the center of this shake-up? Diego Pasini, a rising star who took over as team leader despite being on leave from his undergrad program at Wharton. Pasini’s rapid message blitz demanded annotators take at least one test overnight. The pressure was intense—over 200 workers replied with green check marks, but many fired back with questions and complaints, especially about the near-impossible timeline. One worker called the late-night testing move “shady”—their Slack account vanished shortly after, according to witnesses.

As the dust settles, xAI is splitting its teams into sharper specialties—STEM, coding, finance, law, media, and others—leaving behind the era of the versatile, jack-of-all-trades generalist. It’s a high-speed, high-stakes pivot: if you’re brilliant in a specific field, xAI wants you. If you’re not, your time may be up.

This AI generated newscast about xAI’s radical transformation is more than a headline—it’s a glimpse into the future of work, automation, and what happens when ambition meets algorithms. For the thousands of workers whose worlds changed overnight, it’s a story they won’t soon forget.