In a characteristically bold move, Elon Musk has stirred fresh debate in the tech and research community by drawing a firm line between researchers and engineers—effectively erasing the term "researcher" from the lexicon at both his AI startup xAI and aerospace firm SpaceX.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk responded directly to a job listing from one of xAI's technical employees, Aditya Gupta, who initially used the term “researcher” while advertising an opening. Musk swiftly corrected the post, stating, “This false nomenclature of ‘researcher’ and ‘engineer’, which is a thinly-masked way of describing a two-tier engineering system, is being deleted from xAI today. There are only engineers. Researcher is a relic term from academia.”

Musk’s words reflect his philosophy of maintaining a flat, accountable structure within his organizations. He believes that titles like “researcher” create artificial hierarchies and carry an air of academic pretense. Following Musk’s correction, Gupta edited the post to align with the company’s directive, stating, “correction: looking for solid engineers.”

Interestingly, the role initially posted involved working on reinforcement learning (RL) environments with user feedback and preference mechanisms—typically associated with research-intensive work. Still, Musk's point is clear: regardless of the complexity of the work, the title is "engineer."

The ripple effects of Musk’s stance go beyond xAI. SpaceX, which engages in some of the most sophisticated aerospace innovations today, will also stop using the term “researcher.” Musk emphasized that despite the pioneering work done at SpaceX, the label “researcher” is neither necessary nor desirable. “We (still) don't use the pretentious, low-accountability term ‘researcher’,” he said, reinforcing his viewpoint.

This is not the first time prominent tech leaders have challenged traditional job titles. Back in 2023, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman shared that the company had intentionally moved away from distinct roles like “engineer” and “researcher.” Instead, OpenAI adopted the title “Member of Technical Staff,” a designation inspired by the legendary Xerox PARC lab, known for historic innovations like the computer mouse and graphical user interface.

The concept has caught on with other AI companies as well. Anthropic, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI employees, uses the same title for its technical staff. On its website, Anthropic explains that the line between engineering and research in modern machine learning is increasingly blurred. Many of their engineers also lead research publications, challenging the traditional assumption that research is a separate domain.

While some in the academic and tech communities may view Musk’s stance as controversial, it clearly aligns with his longstanding preference for pragmatic, execution-focused culture. Whether this shift will influence broader industry hiring practices remains to be seen—but for now, at xAI and SpaceX, there’s no room for “researchers.”