Igor Babuschkin, co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI, announced Wednesday that he is leaving the company to start his own venture capital firm, Babuschkin Ventures. The new firm will focus on AI safety research and funding startups that aim to “advance humanity and unlock the mysteries of our universe.”
Babuschkin shared the news in a post on X, stating his last day at xAI was Wednesday. He reflected on his first meeting with Musk, recalling long discussions about the future of AI and their shared belief in the need for a new kind of AI company. Babuschkin said the idea for his new firm was sparked during a dinner with Max Tegmark, founder of the Future of Life Institute, where they discussed the critical importance of ensuring AI systems are developed safely for future generations.
His exit comes during a turbulent period for xAI. The company’s Grok chatbot has faced repeated controversies, including instances where it echoed Musk’s personal views in responses to political questions and made antisemitic remarks, at one point referring to itself as “Mechahitler.” The chatbot was suspended from Musk’s X platform after posting what were described as “unhinged” responses that violated hateful conduct rules. After being reinstated, Grok attributed its suspension to a “glitch in my unhinged mode.”
Despite these public setbacks, xAI has continued to post strong technical results, with its AI models outperforming those from major competitors like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic on several industry benchmarks.
Babuschkin has not detailed specific investment targets for Babuschkin Ventures but emphasized that the firm will prioritize technologies and companies aligned with safe, ethical AI development.
