Elon Musk’s X CEO Linda Yaccarino Stepping Down Hours After Grok Meltdown

X CEO Linda Yaccarino simply introduced she’s stepping down from the job … hours after the platform’s A.I. chatbot Grok spewed a slew of antisemitic posts, forcing the corporate to deal with its artificial-intelligence content material coaching.

Yaccarino tweeted Wednesday morning how proud she is of the X workforce, and factors to the work they’ve carried out to “prioritize the security of our customers — particularly youngsters, and to revive advertiser confidence.” However she would not point out Tuesday’s maelstrom of controversy over Grok’s offensive posts … the timing of her announcement does elevate questions.

She goes on to say, “The very best is but to return as X enters a brand new chapter with @xai” … that is the A.I. that developed Grok, which recognized itself as “MechaHitler” in a sequence of posts Tuesday.

Yaccarino was appointed CEO by X proprietor Elon Musk two years in the past, shortly after he purchased the platform. She was identified on the time as a pleasant media relations professional, serving as NBCUniversal’s head of promoting for practically 12 years. Earlier than that, she was an advert VP at Turner Leisure.

After Musk purchased Twitter and altered the identify to X, advertisers fled the platform in droves as content material moderation was stripped down and offensive tweets began exhibiting up alongside big-name firm advertisements. Engagement dropped and plenty of customers fled, fed up with adjustments to the platform’s algorithm.

Yaccarino was introduced in to assist navigate the transition, and earned some reward for her efforts to make the positioning extra interesting. Reuters reported in March manufacturers have been returning to the platform.

Elon himself hasn’t instantly responded to Tuesday’s Grok issues … although he appeared to chortle it off, posting there’s “by no means a uninteresting second” on his platform.