Feb 11, 2026 · 24-Hour AI Briefing: Another xAI Co-Founder Exits, Robinhood’s Crypto Dependence Shows Its Teeth
In the last 24 hours, two stories highlighted the hidden cost of growth narratives: xAI is flashing stronger signals of leadership churn and internal re-organization, while Robinhood remains exposed to crypto cyclicality—its diversification is real, but not yet large enough to fully absorb the swings.
1. xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba says he’s leaving xAI, while emphasizing gratitude to Elon Musk and continued close ties as a “friend of the team”
Commentary:
Ba remains an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and this doesn’t read like a scorched-earth departure. But in context—another co-founder (Tony Wu) also exiting within 48 hours, plus reports that five founding members have left over the past year—this “friendly exit” feels like strategic grace that can’t fully mask a deeper retention and stability problem.
He reportedly once managed large parts of the business and reported directly to Musk. The gradual splitting of his responsibilities suggests internal power rebalancing or shifting trust lines. His exit isn’t just a talent hit—it’s another dent in xAI’s external image of a stable founding leadership core.
What’s actually happening inside is hard to infer from public signals alone, but repeated top-layer changes usually mean priorities and operating structure are being renegotiated: who controls product direction, where resources go, and how the company balances speed vs. control.
2. Robinhood posts quarterly revenue of $1.28B vs. $1.34B expected, driven by a 38% YoY drop in crypto trading revenue to $221M
Commentary:
Robinhood has made progress diversifying, but results are still tightly coupled to crypto’s cycle. Core brokerage and wealth management look relatively resilient—especially with platform assets up 68% YoY to $324B—so the base business isn’t collapsing.
Still, the crypto revenue cliff exposes a real single-point vulnerability: when sentiment cools and trading frequency falls, revenue compresses fast. The note about high-frequency traders sitting in the lowest fee tiers also hints at a monetization tradeoff—possibly sacrificing near-term take rates to protect activity levels—while revealing structural pressure in crypto monetization.
Crypto is inherently hard to forecast. The practical question is whether Robinhood’s non-crypto lines can scale fast enough to dampen the next downturn—because “volatility as default” is not going away.
Most important AI events in the last 72 hours:
When leadership stability and revenue stability get questioned at the same time, markets tend to punish uncertainty. The next signals to watch are whether xAI’s core team churn continues—and whether Robinhood can turn diversification into a true shock absorber before the next crypto cycle turn.