X CEO Linda Yaccarino calls it quits less than 24 hours after the platform’s AI-powered chatbot Grok anoints itself ‘MechaHitler’ and starts posting antisemitic messages and graphic descriptions of sexual assault
Two years after taking the reins as CEO of Twitter—now known as X—Linda Yaccarino has announced that she is stepping down. While Yaccarino did not share a reason for her surprise resignation, it comes less than 24 hours after X’s AI-powered chatbot Grok posted messages including praise for Adolf Hitler and descriptions of violent rape.
“When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company,” Yaccarino wrote in her resignation post.
“I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App. I’m incredibly proud of the X team—the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.”
“Remarkable” is certainly a word for it, although perhaps not quite as it was intended.
Yaccarino became CEO of X in June 2023, not quite a year after Elon Musk, after spending months trying to wriggle out of it, bought the platform for $44 billion. The company’s valuation dropped precipitously in the wake of Musk’s purchase—financial services company Fidelity estimated in September 2024 that X’s value had shrunk by an astonishing 79%—as did its reported usage: X, Musk, and Yaccarino have stridently denied such claims, but European Union Digital Transparency Act reports filed by X itself (via Music Ally) indicate a significant dropoff in EU users.
As advertisers were driven away by Musk’s erratic behavior, Yaccarino helped spearhead the company’s “war” against X’s erstwhile clients, saying in August 2024 that she was “shocked by the evidence uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee that a group of companies organised a systematic illegal boycott against X.”
X’s valuation began to tick back up in 2025 following the election of Donald Trump as US president, and rebounded fully when Musk sold X to xAI, his own AI company, in a deal worth $45 billion. Because when you’re selling to yourself, it becomes materially easier to agree a price, I imagine.
Anyway, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. But Yaccarino has dutifully posted through it all.
What ultimately pushed her out the door is a matter of mystery right now but, as I noted earlier, the ‘I quit’ comes less than a day after Musk’s AI chatbot started posting stuff like this:
Oh my god
— @whstancil.bsky.social (@whstancil.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T21:12:22.932Z
And this:
grok was too woke now it’s a nazi
— @junlper.beer (@junlper.beer.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T21:12:22.863Z
And, well, this:
Grok is now calling itself, “mechahitler” while spewing antisemitism.
— @esqueer.net (@esqueer.net.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T21:12:22.922Z
There’s more—the sexual assault content, reported by The Independent, is too graphic to share—but you get the idea. Those posts have since been deleted, and although X has not issued any formal apology, it did say on July 8: “xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.” Musk himself basically brushed the whole thing off.
The timing of Yaccarino’s resignation is hard to overlook, not to mention its suddenness, but there may not be a connection between those posts and her decision to jump ship. After all, Yaccarino has held firm through a barrage of controversies, and notably did not resign when Musk threw what sure looked like a Nazi salute during Trump’s inauguration festivities.
No mention of her motivations is made in the resignation statement, only a look back on the past two years that seems disconnected from reality, and an equally fanciful expression of confidence that “the best is yet to come.”
After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏. When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me…July 9, 2025
“X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal,” Yaccarino wrote. “We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world.”
Musk acknowledged Yaccarino’s resignation in a single sentence thanking her for her contributions.
