xAI, the artificial intelligence startup founded by Elon Musk, has lost another top executive. According to The Wall Street Journal, Chief Financial Officer Mike Liberatore has left the company, marking the latest in a string of high-profile departures.
Liberatore, a former Airbnb executive, joined xAI in April and left around the end of July.
During his brief stint, he played a key role in orchestrating the firm’s $5 billion debt raise and another $5 billion in equity funding — nearly half of which came from Musk’s SpaceX. He also oversaw parts of xAI’s data center expansion in Memphis.
Part of a broader shake-up
His exit follows that of several other senior figures at the company. In August, xAI’s general counsel Robert Keele departed after just over a year, alongside senior lawyer Raghu Rao. Last month, co-founder Igor Babuschkin left to start a venture capital firm focused on AI safety.
Earlier in July, Linda Yaccarino, former CEO of X (formerly Twitter), also resigned. Her exit came after mounting concerns over Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot integrated into X.
Uncertainty around musk’s ai vision
These departures raise questions about stability at xAI, which Musk launched in 2023 to develop “truth-seeking” AI as an alternative to offerings from OpenAI and Google. While the company has ambitious goals — including building massive data centers and scaling Grok — leadership churn may slow its momentum at a critical stage of growth.
