OpenAI Engineer Rejects Elon Musk’s Recruitment Attempt with Scathing Response
In a surprising move, Elon Musk‘s AI venture xAI attempted to recruit an engineer from OpenAI. However, the offer was met with a scathing response that has left many in the tech community talking.
Elon Musk is a South African-born entrepreneur and business magnate.
He co-founded PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
Musk's innovative ventures have disrupted traditional industries, making him one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history.
With an estimated net worth of over $200 billion, he has become a symbol of technological advancement and innovation.
OpenAI’s Javier Soto shared a screenshot of his response to xAI on X, revealing the harsh words he used when rejecting their offer. ‘I could not in good conscience work for Elon Musk,’ Soto replied. ‘I am a happy Tesla owner and fan of SpaceX, but the rhetoric he’s spewing on social media is one of the biggest threats to democracy that we have ever witnessed.’
Soto’s concerns stem from Musk‘s history of spreading misinformation on social media. ‘You and I, as well as every informed citizen on this planet, know that he’s knowingly spreading very dangerous and harmful misinformation to manipulate hundreds of millions of people for his own personal gain,’ Soto continued.
He also warned xAI that their association with Musk would make it difficult to attract top talent. ‘For as long as you’re associated with this dangerous individual you will struggle to hire (and retain) diverse, smart, and kind talent such as myself.’
The Backstory Behind the Rejection
Soto’s rejection comes after users discovered that xAI‘s Grok 3 chatbot had been instructed to ignore any sources of information saying that Musk and Donald Trump were known for spreading misinformation. In response, xAI head engineer ‘Igor Babuschkin’ blamed the issue on an unnamed employee who allegedly instituted the rule without permission.
However, Soto took to X to share his biting response and dunk on the xAI head engineer for ‘throwing an employee under the bus on Twitter‘ – a move he called ‘next-level toxic behavior.’ ‘I don’t think I’ll ever regret sending this email,’ Soto said.
The Fallout
It remains unclear which employee allegedly instructed Grok to ignore sources that mention Musk and Trump spreading misinformation, or if they’ve been fired. However, it is clear that xAI’s efforts to poach talent from OpenAI have backfired in a big way.
This incident highlights the challenges that companies like xAI face when trying to attract top talent while being associated with controversial figures like Elon Musk.
