SpaceX AI team lays off about 60 people from Grok Imagine video generation team
According to The Information, citing people familiar with the matter, SpaceX’s AI team (formerly xAI, now SpaceX Super Intelligence) laid off about 60 employees from the Grok Imagine video generation team over the past week, leaving only a few people to keep the product running. The team had already experienced layoffs in previous months. Grok Imagine is the image and short-video generation feature built into the chatbot Grok.
After xAI was merged into SpaceX in February 2026, the AI business was reorganized into four areas: Grok Main and Voice, coding tools, Imagine, and Macrohard. Since the merger, multiple co-founders and senior researchers have left. In September 2025, xAI had laid off about 500 data labelers. The official follow-up plan for the video feature has not been announced, and the product remains open to users.
Original source:
Title: Elon Musk’s AI Group Guts Grok Video Generation Team
Publisher: Aaron Tilley, Claudia Chong and Juro Osawa, The Information
Publication date: 2026-11-13
URL: theinformation.com/topics/grok
Source nature: The Information exclusive report (citing people familiar with the matter)
Verification status: This read used reprints and summaries from multiple English-language media outlets (the original The Information article is behind a paywall and cannot be fully accessed)
Supported content: about 60 people from the Grok Imagine team were laid off (over the past week); only a few people were left to keep things running; layoffs had already occurred earlier; xAI was merged into SpaceX in February 2026; the business was reorganized into four areas; multiple co-founders and senior researchers left; about 500 data labelers were laid off in September 2025; no follow-up plan was announced by officials
ABAB AI Insight
This round of layoffs took place during the ongoing restructuring phase after xAI was merged into SpaceX. The Information’s report places the layoff of about 60 people alongside the team’s earlier reductions over previous months and notes that the product is currently maintained by only a few people while still remaining open to users. The layoff of about 500 data labelers in September 2025 is a separate historical event confirmed by reports from Business Insider and others; xAI said at the time that it would expand its team of professional labelers.
The description of the business being reorganized into four areas is consistent with the organizational adjustments publicly reported after the February 2026 merger. The departures of multiple co-founders and senior researchers after the merger have been confirmed by reports from The Verge and others. This layoff targeting the Imagine video team has been linked by several reprints to a shift in resource priorities toward coding tools and Grok-related agent products, but the original article did not directly state a causal link to the performance of any single competitor’s product.
No official statement has been issued about the future plan for the video feature. Indicators to watch for follow-up include whether the product continues to receive updates, whether the team size changes further, and whether the company issues a public explanation regarding the Imagine direction.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
The Grok Imagine video team can be laid off by about 60 more people on top of earlier cuts, with only a few people left to keep things running.
After xAI’s merger into SpaceX, the business reorganization can place Imagine as one of four areas, while personnel departures also occur.
Officials may not have announced the future plan for the video feature, while the product still remains open to users.