If Sam Altman experienced a 'palace coup' at the end of 2023, then Musk is experiencing an 'imperial earthquake' in early 2026. 1. The 'collective running' of the core team vs. Altman's' defection and separation ' Sam Altman (2023): At that time, the board of directors fired Sam, and then all employees signed a petition to "force the palace" to return. The core cohesion lies in Sam. Musk (2026): The situation is exactly the opposite. It's not that the board of directors wants to dismiss him, but rather that his core 'followers' are collectively resigning. The original 12 founders of xAI have already left halfway, including recently departed reasoning team leader Tony Wu and research/security leader Jimmy Ba. Altman once won by winning the hearts of people, while Musk is now losing the hearts of talent. The large-scale loss of such talents is more difficult to solve through a "counterattack" than being fired by the board of directors. 2. Capital Bureau: From the 'Non Profit Struggle' to the 'Trillion IPO Fantasia' Sam Altman: The core contradiction at that time was the conflict between OpenAI's "non-profit intention" and "commercialization speed". Musk: The current situation is even more insane. In order to maintain its valuation, Musk has just completed SpaceX's acquisition and merger of xAI, pushing the valuation to an astonishing $1.25 trillion and planning to complete the largest IPO in history by 2026. Anyway, this is a shadow over the development of xAI, as putting in 12-14 hours of work intensity every day is unsustainable no matter where it is.