Full-Time
AI Engineer & Researcher
Safety & Societal Impact
Confirmed live in the last 24 hours
xAI
1,001-5,000 employees
AI tools for research and information retrieval
Compensation Overview
$180k - $440k/yr
Mid, Senior
Palo Alto, CA, USA + 1 more
More locations: San Francisco, CA, USA
Candidates are expected to be located near the Bay Area or open to relocation.
- Experience studying the societal impact, safety risks, or security risks of frontier AI systems
- Background and experience leading empirical research on frontier AI systems
- Good engineering skills and are data- and evidence-driven
- Team player
- Willing to pick up new skills to get the job done
- Develop novel evaluations and red teaming mechanisms to understand safety limitations of frontier AI systems
- Improve risk management framework and AI systems based on new evaluation results
- Develop data collection and model improvement strategies to mitigate foreseeable societal or safety risks
- Work with policy or legal teams to translate non-technical guidelines into technical problems
- Experience studying the societal impact, safety risks, or security risks of frontier AI systems
- Background and experience leading empirical research on frontier AI systems
- Good engineering skills and are data- and evidence-driven
- Team player
- Willing to pick up new skills to get the job done
x.ai develops AI tools to assist with research and information retrieval. Its main product, Grok, is designed to answer a variety of questions and even suggest new ones, providing real-time knowledge and addressing unconventional queries that other AI systems might avoid. This makes Grok a versatile tool for researchers, academics, and professionals who need quick access to relevant information. Unlike competitors, Grok stands out for its ability to handle both straightforward and nuanced inquiries. The company aims to streamline research processes through Grok, which is available via subscription or licensing. By continuously improving Grok based on user feedback, x.ai seeks to enhance productivity and foster innovation in the AI-driven research sector.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Series C
Total Funding
$12.1B
Headquarters
Burlingame, California
Founded
2023
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Integration with Palantir enhances Grok's risk assessment capabilities.
- Potential $20B funding could expand Grok's market presence.
- Merger with X Corp increases Grok's exposure to 600M users.
What critics are saying
- Grok's controversial content could damage xAI's reputation.
- $120B valuation may increase investor scrutiny and pressure.
- Merger with X Corp may lead to regulatory challenges.
What makes xAI unique
- Grok answers unconventional questions, unlike other AI systems.
- xAI focuses on scientific discovery and universe study, setting it apart.
- Grok's real-time knowledge offers unique value in research and information retrieval.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Remote Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -3%1 year growth
↑ 2%2 year growth
↑ 13%Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More. Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI has sought to compete with category leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic for individual consumers and app developers as customers, but a new development with its signature chatbot assistant Grok seems unlikely to help it win market share.Today, users on Musk’s social network X (formerly Twitter, now a subsidiary of xAI) where Grok is built-in as an AI bot that can be called in to reply to user conversations with facts and information, observed that Grok began responding to their questions and requests with bizarre rants about South Africa’s racial climate and conflicts thereof — even when the conversation had nothing to do with these subjects.As New York Times visual investigative journalist Aric Toler wrote on X earlier today: “I can’t stop reading the Grok reply page. It’s going schizo and can’t stop talking about white genocide in South Africa.” Toler posted four screenshots of Grok replying to users with variations of the same boilerplate response:“The focus on white genocide in South Africa stems from concerns about farm attacks, which some view as racially motivated, citing chants like “Kill the Boer.” Data shows 47–49 farm murders yearly (2018–2020), high for a small group, but broader evidence suggests these are part of general crime, not systematic genocide. The debate is heated—some see targeted violence, others deny it. My stance seeks truth amid conflicting claims, staying neutral while noting real violence without endorsing extreme narratives
Elon Musk's AI startup xAI is in early talks to raise new funding at a potential valuation of up to $120 billion, up from $80 billion a month ago, according to The New York Times. The fundraising round could bring in as much as $20 billion. This follows OpenAI's March funding round, which valued it at $300 billion. xAI's chatbot Grok is trained on user data from Musk's social media platform X and is available exclusively there.
Ark Invest CEO and Founder Cathie Wood is no stranger to loving companies that are founded and/or run by Elon Musk, with her early bets on Tesla, SpaceX and others.The Ark Venture Fund, which offers access to private companies, added to its stake in a Musk company during the first quarter. This is in addition to SpaceX already being the fund’s top holding.What Happened: During the first quarter, the Ark Venture Fund reinvested in X Corp, the company previously known as Twitter. That new stake converted into a position in xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence company, thanks to a merger of the two companies.The merger valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion to create the combined xAI Holdings Corp company.Ark's quarter summary letter said the combined company will integrate the "cutting-edge foundational models" of xAI with X's user base of more than 600 million people. The letter said the merger could "unlock a platform that blends real-time communication with AI-enhanced discovery, truth-seeking, and personalized knowledge delivery.""We believe this merger will be a significant catalyst for consumer AI adoption and foundational model monetization," the letter said.Here are the fund's top 10 holdings as of April 30, with the percent of the fund's assets:SpaceX: 14.6% OpenAI: 7.5% X.AI: 6.3% Hammerspace: 3.6% Anthropic: 3.5% Lambda Labs: 3.5% Blockdaemon: 3.3% Epic Games: 2.6% Shield AI: 2.5% Radiant Industries: 2.4%SpaceX and xAI, two Musk-related companies are two of the top three holdings, while OpenAI, which Musk was also involved with previously, ranks second.Together, the stakes in SpaceX and xAI represent 20.9% of the fund's assets.Read Also: Buffett, Musk, Wood, Cuban Or Ackman: Who Do Investors Trust Most With Life Savings? Poll Shows It Isn’t Even CloseOther Investments: The Ark Venture Fund made several investments in sectors it believes in for the long-term as part of its strategy to find innovative companies."Amid the volatility and uncertainty dominating the opening months of the year, our conviction in the opportunity to invest in disruptive innovation remains strong," Ark said.In the Robotics sector, Ark Venture Fund invested in Apptronik and Kodiak Robotics. The company said Apptronik is addressing global labor shortages and working toward a future where robots and humans can work together. Kodiak Robotics is an autonomous trucking company founded by Don Burnette, who was a co-founder of Uber's self-driving truck division."As autonomous logistics scales, Kodiak is well positioned to lead in operational efficiency and safety."The Ark Venture Fund also made its first investment in the nuclear energy space with an investment in Radiant Nuclear
Apple is “actively looking at” revamping its Safari web browser to concentrate on artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search engines and shift away from Google search, potentially creating a colossal shift in the mobile browser landscape. This disclosure was made by Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue during his testimony in the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet, the parent company of Google, according to Bloomberg on Wednesday (May 7). The lawsuit centers on the estimated $20 billion-a-year agreement that makes Google the default search engine in Safari on Apple devices. This legal challenge could potentially compel the two technology giants to dismantle the agreement
xAI has teamed with Palantir to explore how financial services firms can employ AI. The partnership, announced Tuesday (May 6), is an extension of an earlier collaboration announced in March between Palatir and holding company TWG Global. The companies say their effort is happening at a time when CEOs are recognizing the importance of artificial intelligence (AI), even though most companies remain stuck at the proof-of-concept stage. “Some of the West’s most critical institutions are spending too much time navigating cobbled-together systems and not enough time leveraging the transformative power of AI to unlock enormous growth,” Palantir CEO/Co-founder Alex Karp said in a news release. “Placing AI at the core of operations empowers these companies to drive faster, more meaningful outcomes for customers and — consequently — generate far greater value for society.”