Reid Hoffman slams SpaceX AI strategy, calls xAI a train wreck, sees room for OpenAI and Anthropic

Reid Hoffman, veteran investor and former Microsoft board member, delivered a stark assessment of the SpaceX AI strategy on Rana el‑Kaliouby’s Pioneers of AI podcast. He dismissed SpaceX as “not an AI company,” arguing the firm is buying relevance by snapping up AI startups like Cursor after its June 12, 2026 IPO.

SpaceX AI strategy under fire

Hoffman likened the approach to Barry Diller’s IAC roll‑up model, saying the market cap is being used to purchase talent rather than prove capability. He also called Elon Musk’s xAI “a complete train wreck,” noting that ↓ 11 original co‑founders have exited and the venture is on its third restart. The flagship Grok models, he added, trail Anthropic and OpenAI on benchmark tests.

“You could almost think of it as the IAC of AI,” Hoffman said.

His critique extended to SpaceX’s compute leasing business, which he compared to “premium‑priced CoreWeave” and labeled “not an AI company.” Turning to the Anthropic episode, Hoffman expressed alarm over the U.S. export‑control order that forced the removal of the Fable and Mythos models, calling the move “autocratic willy‑nilly” and pointing out the uneven treatment versus OpenAI. Regulatory uncertainty, he warned, adds a new layer of investor risk for one of the largest IPOs in history. Despite the turbulence, Hoffman argued there is ample room for both Anthropic and OpenAI to thrive, each occupying distinct lanes—Anthropic in code, design and legal AI, OpenAI as a consumer‑front‑end search layer, whose revenue is projected to reach ↑ $10B this year. He questioned the longevity of Cursor, noting it “seems to have peaked months ago” as Claude Code and Codex gain market share. On the broader market, he warned against the narrative that AI is wiping out jobs, attributing entry‑level layoffs more to post‑pandemic over‑hiring and remote‑work challenges. Hoffman’s advice to Gen Z: embrace AI as a career tool, not a threat. The former Microsoft director also hinted at his next venture, Manas AI, an “AI drug‑discovery factory for creating monopolies,” signaling a shift from silicon to biotech. For further context see Reuters and Bloomberg.