xAI Founding Member Describes Grok Development Grind

Toby Pohlen, a founding member of Elon Musk's xAI, said a 36-hour 'extremely hardcore' push in November 2023 produced the first Grok model. He described the small team shipping from a partially fine-tuned base model and basic UI without stimulants, urging purposeful grinding over performative overwork. Pohlen left xAI in February and emphasized avoiding unnecessary sacrifice.