Mumbai, January 30: Zeehsan Patel, a key member of the technical staff at Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has announced his resignation from the company. Patel, who joined the firm in May 2025 as the first hire for the dedicated video generation team, confirmed his departure through a detailed social media post. During his tenure of less than a year, he played a pivotal role in leading the development of Grok Imagine, the company’s signature video generation model.

In a reflective post shared on the social media platform X, Patel described his time at the startup as a "crazy journey," highlighting the intense work environment and rapid development cycles. He noted that the initial goal was to build a state-of-the-art video generation model from scratch within a tight three-month window. This effort led to the creation of Grok Imagine v0.9 and eventually the current version 1.0, which he claims is now the most used video model globally. Amazon Layoffs: Hundreds Impacted in India Among 16,000 Global Employees.

Zeeshan Patel Message After Leaving Elon Musk's xAI

xAI Video Generation Progress

The researcher provided a rare glimpse into the "war room" culture at xAI, describing a period of "burning the 3am oil" to meet aggressive internal deadlines. Under Patel’s leadership, the team focused on first-principles thinking to execute at "ludicrous speed." According to Patel, Grok Imagine has now become a central feature for both the X platform and the Grok application, generating millions of videos on a daily basis for a global user base.

Patel extended his gratitude to Elon Musk for his direct mentorship and guidance, mentioning that the billionaire was actively involved in late-night review meetings. While acknowledging the success of the engineering mindset he developed at the company, Patel stated that he has now embarked on a "new adventure" that feels both familiar and different. He did not disclose his next destination but promised to share more details in the near future.

Grok Imagine Market Impact

The exit of xAI’s first video hire comes at a time when the competition for AI talent in Silicon Valley is at an all-time high. Despite the short duration of his stay, Patel’s contributions helped xAI establish a footprint in the generative video space, a sector currently contested by major players like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo. The departure follows a pattern of high-intensity, short-duration stints often seen in Musk-led ventures, where rapid product launches are prioritised. Tech Layoffs 2026: Amazon, Meta, TCS, Pinterest and Others Reduce Workforce by Laying Off Thousands of Employees in January.

AI Research and Development Trends

The development of Grok Imagine 1.0 represents a significant milestone for xAI as it seeks to integrate multimedia capabilities directly into the social media experience. As the company continues to scale its operations, the focus is expected to shift towards further refining the realism of generated content and improving computational efficiency. Patel's exit leaves the video team in a transition phase, though he expressed confidence that his former colleagues would continue to deliver "delightful experiences" for users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2026 03:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).