X CEO steps down just hours after Grok's pro-Hitler outburst

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has announced that she is stepping down from the top job. This comes just hours after X's AI chatbot, Grok, had some problematic content pulled offline, after it drew significant backlash from users.

You have to figure running X is a tough gig right now, maybe one of the toughest in tech. Yaccarino landed the job two years ago, back in June 2023, coming over from NBCUniversal, where she previously worked and was the Executive VP and COO of Advertising Sales, Marketing, and Acquisitions.

The thinking at the time seemed to be that with her advertising connections and experience, she could bring back brands that got spooked after Elon Musk bought the company. It has been a struggle getting those advertisers comfortable again.

Yaccarino put out a statement published on X about leaving. She wrote about the opportunity she had carrying out the company's mission with Elon Musk, protecting free speech, turning things around, and working to transform "X into the Everything App," adding she was "immensely grateful to him" for trusting her with the responsibility.

She did not give a specific reason for packing it in. A replacement has not been announced yet either.

Her time leading X has been eventful, to say the least. She had to navigate the departure of many key people, figure out how to bring back users, and, critically, work with advertisers while the company's owner, Elon Musk, did things that sometimes made those advertisers incredibly uncomfortable. Remember that time at the DealBook conference when, asked about advertisers pausing spending, he told them to "Go f--- yourself"?

While we do not know the exact timing correlation, her stepping down announcement coming the same day as the big blow-up over Grok praising Adolf Hitler, which led to its text generation being paused, makes you wonder.