Elon Musk has once again asked his employees to justify their work, this time sending an email to all xAI staff requesting detailed summaries of their recent accomplishments and future plans. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO gave workers just two days to compile one-page reports outlining what they’ve achieved in the past four weeks and what they intend to accomplish in the next month.According to CNN, which obtained a copy of the Tuesday afternoon email, Musk set a Thursday noon deadline for responses. The email was direct and concise: “Send a one page summary of what you’ve accomplished in the past four weeks and what you intend to accomplish in the next four weeks. This is due by noon on Thursday,” Musk wrote to staff Tuesday afternoon. The request comes as xAI prepares for a three-hour all-hands meeting scheduled for Wednesday, amid ongoing turbulence at the artificial intelligence company.
Musk’s pattern of employee performance reviews continues
This latest demand follows Musk’s established pattern of requesting employee productivity reports across his various ventures. In August 2024, he sent similar emails to X (formerly Twitter) staff asking for monthly and yearly contribution summaries to determine stock and option awards. During his brief advisory role with the Department of Government Efficiencies, federal employees received mass emails requiring weekly accomplishment lists, with Musk threatening that non-response would be considered resignation.The federal program was eventually rolled back after agencies warned employees in sensitive areas not to respond. When Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he famously asked developers to print code they’d written, only to later tell them to shred the printouts.
Layoffs rock xAI data annotation team
The productivity review email arrives during a particularly chaotic period for xAI. Business Insider reported last week that the company laid off hundreds of workers from its data annotation team, which trains the Grok AI chatbot. The cuts affected over 500 employees who help improve Grok’s accuracy and consistency through response rating and content labeling.Despite leadership telling workers during a Monday all-hands meeting that layoffs were over, additional terminations occurred just hours later. The company has simultaneously announced plans to expand hiring for specialized AI tutors across domains including STEM, finance, medicine, and even “memes and headline commentary,” with pay rates jumping from $35-65 per hour to $45-100 per hour for the new specialised roles.
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