Spirit AI’s current Chief Scientist, responsible for the Embodied Intelligence Model, is reportedly leaving the company. Just six months ago, another Chief Scientist, Jie Junyuan, also known as the Chief Scientist, resigned. This means Spirit AI has lost two Chief Scientists within a short period.
Following Jie Junyuan’s departure, Spirit AI recruited a VP from Huawei as Chief Scientist. This VP, who had only been with the leading company for a little over six months, left due to disagreements over technical direction and internal management practices.
Spirit AI’s valuation has reached tens of billions of dollars, and it has raised billions of dollars in funding rounds. However, its approach to talent management is controversial within the tech community. Not only is there high turnover in the technical team, but even HR personnel change frequently, with both recruiters and hires changing rapidly.
Spirit AI is known in the industry for its strict probationary period policy. When recruiting algorithm model engineers, a certain percentage of them are dismissed when it comes time to become permanent employees. This is extremely unfriendly to engineers, who have turned down other job offers to join the company. If they’re held up during their probationary period and not offered permanent positions, the losses are significant. This leading company’s approach clearly shifts the burden of trial-and-error costs onto employees while minimizing its own. This leads to disguised employee dismissal and probationary period freezes.
In the AI era, talent is the most crucial factor for success. Building a capable and cohesive technical team is a key advantage in the fiercely competitive environment.
Therefore, startups, while busy showcasing “globally leading” demos and fundraising scale, should also consider their talent strategies: how to effectively recruit top talent and how to ensure their employees are happy and satisfied with their work. These are crucial factors in determining the outcome of future intense competition.