Texas-based software engineer Aman Gottumukkala has announced that he is joining xAI, the artificial intelligence firm founded by Elon Musk. Gottumukkala is known among developers for building Firebender, a tool designed to help programmers write and manage code more efficiently.

He shared the update through a post on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that he will now work on advanced coding AI systems and collaborate with teams linked to SpaceX.

In his post, he wrote, “I’m joining @SpaceX and @xai to build the best coding AI. For the last couple of years, I founded the most widely used coding agent for Android, scaling it to millions in revenue with a team of 3.”

Firebender and the rise of AI coding assistants

Before joining xAI, Gottumukkala built Firebender, an AI-powered coding assistant created mainly for Android developers. The tool works directly inside platforms such as Android Studio and JetBrains IDEs.

Firebender helps developers automate repetitive tasks, organise code and speed up the software development process. Despite being developed by a small team of only three people, the startup reportedly grew quickly and generated millions in revenue.

His work placed him among a new generation of developers building AI tools that assist programmers in writing and debugging code.

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Who is Aman Gottumukkala?

Gottumukkala studied computer science at Texas A&M University, completing his degree between 2017 and 2021. Earlier, he attended the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science.

Before launching Firebender, he worked as a software engineer at Paradigm, where he contributed to projects in the technology and cryptocurrency ecosystem.

He was also selected as a Kleiner Perkins Fellowship fellow, a programme known for connecting promising engineers and startup founders with venture capital networks in Silicon Valley.

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In his post, Gottumukkala also spoke about the rapid development of artificial intelligence systems. He said the capabilities of AI models are increasing quickly and that the technology is approaching what he described as “recursive superintelligence.”

He added that solving such complex challenges will require massive computing power, infrastructure and top engineering talent. According to him, xAI offers the combination of talent, resources and collaboration needed to work on these large-scale technological problems.