After only a few months on the job, Mike Liberatore, the chief financial officer (CFO) of xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence enterprise, has quit the company.
Musk’s AI venture’s leadership team has been shaken by a recent spate of executive departures, including Liberatore, who joined xAI in April 2025 and exited in July 2025.
This decision challenges the company’s stability and direction in the face of intense competition from other AI titans, such as OpenAI and Google.
Leadership turmoil at xAI
Mike Liberatore joins co-founder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele in leaving xAI. Keele wanted to spend more time with his family and disagreed with Musk, while Babuschkin quit to start an AI safety research investment venture.
Another senior lawyer, Raghu Rao, left the company. The quick departure of senior people shows a persistent churn at the top.
The CFO played a crucial role during his short tenure, helping xAI raise approximately $10 billion in funding, with half of that equity coming from SpaceX, another Musk-led company.
Liberatore also managed physical expansions, including securing property for data centres near Memphis, revealing his significant operational involvement. Yet, his abrupt exit remains undisclosed, adding to speculation about internal challenges at xAI.
Impact on xAI’s ambitions
xAI was launched by Elon Musk in 2023, aiming to rival major AI players while addressing concerns about censorship and safety in AI technology.
The company’s integration with Musk’s social media platform, X, and its flagship chatbot, Grok, has faced issues such as controversial chatbot behaviour that has led to temporary shutdowns and public apologies.
The leadership volatility, coinciding with such challenges, casts a shadow over the fledgling AI firm’s stability.
Executives leaving under unclear circumstances and amid operational hurdles could hamper xAI’s ambitions to establish itself as a top player in AI. For now, the departure of its CFO and other leaders marks a turbulent phase, and the firm has not publicly commented on these exits. Musk’s silence leaves observers curious about the internal dynamics beneath these high-profile resignations.