Overview

• More than 500 data annotators were cut on September 12, shrinking the team from roughly 1,500 to about 900, with workers reporting another 100-plus terminations days later.
• Diego Pasini, a recent high school graduate on leave from the University of Pennsylvania, assumed control of the annotation operation after multiple senior Slack accounts were deactivated.
• At a September 15 all-hands, Pasini told staff there would be no further cuts, promised 10% raises, and referenced plans to expand specialist hiring by 10x before additional layoffs followed hours later.
• Remaining workers have faced rapid one-on-one reviews and subject-matter tests that determine roles and retention, including assessments in safety, STEM, coding, memes, and Grok’s behavior.
• xAI and Pasini have not responded to requests for comment, and workers who criticized the new leadership on Slack saw their accounts deactivated, according to screenshots and employee accounts.