Nilay Patel

Definitely.

Google invented transformers and didn't release them because of safety concerns.

OpenAI just put out TrashGPT and it got huge adoption because they didn't think anybody would use it, so they were less worried about safety concerns.

Everybody knew agents were a thing, but the security concerns were a big deal.

One guy was like, screw it, OpenClaw.

Security concerns abound, but the product went viral because it's really useful.

He got hired for a bunch of money.

Like that's the dynamic here, right, is the people who ignore the obvious security and trust and safety concerns get out to a big lead and then everyone feels like they're catching up.

Is that the dynamic in sort of the labor market as a whole as well or is it just company by company?

We need to take a quick break.

We'll be right back.

We're back with Verge Senior AI Reporter Hayden Field, talking about the wild state of the AI talent war.

Let me connect this to XAI, which has no trust and safety concerns whatsoever, as we have covered in great detail on the Verge and on Decoder.

At a high level, what's happening with XAI, Grok, and Elon?

He's merged XAI, and with it, the X platform into SpaceX.

I think it's very important for us to all take a beat and note that SpaceX now operates Twitter.

which is weird, but a lot of people got paid.

A bunch of people left.

There's some chaos and drama with them leaving.

What's going on there?