Elon Musk’s xAI Faces Executive Exodus Over Leadership And Financial Concerns

Several executives have departed Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI following disputes with two of his closest advisers over management structure and financial concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal. Departures include former xAI CFO Mike Liberatore, co-founder Igor Babuschkin, general counsel Robert Keele, and Linda Yaccarino, who had been CEO of X. Some executives questioned the company’s financial projections and the role of Musk’s family office in handling xAI’s accounts. Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro dismissed the concerns as false, saying PricewaterhouseCoopers audits the financials. xAI is spending heavily on GPUs and data centers to power its Grok chatbot, recently criticized for spreading violent and antisemitic content. A spokeswoman said Musk leads xAI with unwavering vision and commitment, prioritizing the advancement of AI for humanity’s benefit.