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An IIT Bombay graduate and AI researcher, has joined SpaceX and xAI to work closely with Elon Musk on building advanced artificial intelligence systems.
His work will focus on combining robotics and AI to develop what he calls “superintelligence.”
Devendra Singh Chaplot, an Indian researcher known for his work in artificial intelligence and robotics, has announced a major step in his career. On March 14, he shared that he is joining SpaceX and xAI, two companies led by Elon Musk. His new role will involve working closely with Musk and his teams on advanced AI projects.
Chaplot made the announcement in a post on X (formerly Twitter), where he spoke about the opportunity to work on building powerful AI systems. His focus will be on bringing together robotics and artificial intelligence to create smarter technologies that combine the physical and digital worlds.
Chaplot Announces New Role At Musk’s Companies
In his post, Chaplot explained that he would be directly involved in building what he described as “superintelligence.” He believes the collaboration between SpaceX and xAI could open doors to major breakthroughs in technology.
“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 you get the possibility to achieve something truly unique,” he wrote.
Chaplot also shared how meaningful this moment is for him personally. Much of his career has been spent exploring robotics and artificial intelligence, and he said this new role connects directly with the areas he has cared about for years.
“I’m excited to advance the fields I’ve obsessed over for years, from robotics research to building AI models on the founding teams of Mistral and TML. Both were extraordinary journeys with extraordinary people that shaped how I think about building intelligence from the ground up,” he added.
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
He ended the message by thanking the people and experiences that helped shape his path so far. Chaplot said he is ready to begin this next stage of his career. “Grateful for everything that brought me here and can’t wait to get started.”
Elon Musk also responded to the announcement. The xAI chief reshared Chaplot’s post and welcomed him to the organisation, writing, “Welcome to @xAI!”
A Move That Follows Company Restructuring
Chaplot’s joining comes shortly after an important development involving Musk’s companies. In February, SpaceX acquired xAI as part of a corporate restructuring effort.
The move was aimed at bringing together Musk’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and space technology. By combining the two organisations, the goal is to create stronger links between advanced AI systems and real-world hardware used in space exploration.
Chaplot’s experience in both robotics and machine learning makes him a strong fit for this vision.
Who Is Devendra Singh Chaplot? Journey From IIT Bombay To Global AI Labs
Devendra Singh Chaplot studied at IIT Bombay, one of India’s top engineering institutes. He later earned a PhD in Machine Learning from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.
His academic journey began with strong achievements early on. In 2010, he secured an All India Rank 25 in the IIT-JEE examination. He also achieved an International Rank 5 at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
Over the years, Chaplot has worked with several leading organisations in the AI field. He was part of the founding team of Mistral AI and served there as a Research Scientist, focusing on building advanced AI models.
Before that, he worked at the Facebook AI Research (FAIR) Lab. His research there covered areas such as machine learning, computer vision, and robotics.
Chaplot has also led teams that built AI systems which performed strongly in major global competitions. These include the CVPR-2019 PointNav Challenge, the CVPR-2020 ObjectNav Challenge, the NeurIPS-2022 Rearrangement Habitat Challenge, and the Visual-Doom AI Competition in 2017.
His work has earned several honours. He received the Facebook Fellowship Award and has also won Best Paper and Best Demo awards at major AI conferences.
Chaplot also spent about a year working at Samsung Electronics headquarters in South Korea. His work and research have been featured in well-known technology publications including MIT Technology Review, TechCrunch, and Popular Science.
Delhi, India, India
March 14, 2026, 09:54 IST
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