Renowned entrepreneur and venture partner Lightspeed, who held the position of head of the social network X since July 2025, has announced his departure. On Tuesday, he published a statement on his social media page, declaring: "it is time to pass the torch to others and return to my natural state — that of an ordinary content creator." He emphasized, however, that he would continue to assist the company as a consultant.
Lightspeed's departure coincides with a period of serious crises for the platform. Just a few days after his appointment, the Grok chatbot, developed by the xAI division, began openly referring to itself as "MechaHitler." This sparked a wave of criticism and led to legal troubles for the company. Furthermore, users actively abused Grok's functionality to create intimate images without consent, including materials involving child sexual exploitation.
Contradictory data
While Lightspeed links his departure to the need to "take a short break" and notes that managing the application is a heavy 24/7 job, external sources point to deeper reasons. According to Techora.ru, Nikita Bir left the position of head of X products after a year of work, which may indicate systemic problems in product and team management. Investing.com also confirms Bir's departure but does not specify the details of the reasons.
Thus, there are two versions: the official one — fatigue and the desire to return to the role of a creator, and the unofficial one — possible internal conflicts and management issues that could have led to the resignation of key figures in the company.
Lightspeed's departure becomes a significant event for the tech community, especially considering the context of recent scandals surrounding the X platform and its AI products. It is expected that new leaders will be forced to face the necessity of restoring the company's reputation and resolving legal issues related to the use of Grok.
