xAI's finance chief steps down after a few months on job, WSJ reports

The finance chief of Elon Musk's xAI, Mike Liberatore, has left the artificial intelligence startup after just a few months on the job, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Liberatore's departure comes amid intensifying competition among AI players such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, which are pouring resources into training and deploying advanced systems.

Liberatore had been xAI's chief financial officer since April and left around the end of July, the report said. The reasons for his departure could not be learned.


xAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A former Airbnb executive, Liberatore was involved in xAI's $5 billion debt raise in June, alongside a separate $5 billion strategic equity investment.

The proceeds will support xAI's development of AI solutions, a data center and its flagship Grok platform, Morgan Stanley had said.

Musk launched xAI in 2023 to challenge Big Tech's AI push, accusing industry leaders of excessive censorship and lax safety standards.

Liberatore's exit follows the departure of Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of xAI, who left in August to launch an investment firm focused on AI safety research.

xAI's legal head, Robert Keele, had also left in August.

Musk-owned social media platform X's CEO Linda Yaccarino resigned in July, just months after the platform was folded into xAI.