Meet the Indian researcher Elon Musk hired to build ‘superintelligence’

Indian AI researcher Devendra Chaplot has announced that he is joiningElon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI, which is closely working alongside SpaceX.

Sharing the update on X, Chaplot posted a photo with Musk and spoke about his ambitions for the next stage of his career.

Musk soon responded, amplifying the announcement and welcoming him to the organisation.

In his post, Chaplot wrote, “I’m joining SpaceX and xAI, working closely with Elon and team to build superintelligence.

Together SpaceX and xAI combine physical and digital intelligence under a leader who understands hardware at the deepest level.” He added that the opportunity to work in a “high-agency culture with frontier-scale resources” makes the move especially exciting, as it opens up the chance to build something truly distinctive.

Reflecting on his journey so far, Chaplot said he is eager to continue working on areas he has long been passionate about–from robotics research to developing advanced AI models.

He also mentioned his experience as part of the founding teams at Mistral and Thinking Machines Lab, describing both as “extraordinary journeys with extraordinary people” that shaped his approach to building intelligence systems from the ground up.

I’m joining SpaceX and xAI, working closely with Elon and team to build superintelligence.

Together SpaceX and xAI combine physical and digital intelligence under a leader who understands hardware at the deepest level.

Add a high-agency culture with frontier-scale resources, and…pic.twitter.com/tjaPUjGUwK
— Devendra Chaplot (@dchaplot)March 13, 2026
Musk responded briefly to the post, writing, “Welcome to @xAI!”
Chaplot brings extensive expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

As per information on his personal website, he previously worked at Thinking Machines Lab, where he was involved in both research and product development.

One of his key contributions there was helping build Tinker, a training API aimed at making it easier and more efficient to train large language models.

Earlier in his career, he was part of Facebook’s AI research team after joining in 2018.

Before transitioning fully into AI research, he also worked as a research associate at Samsung, gaining hands-on experience in applied technology and innovation.

Academically, Chaplot has a strong background in computer science and AI.

He completed his undergraduate studies atIIT Bombayand later moved to Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a Master’s degree in Language Technology, followed by a PhD in Machine Learning.