Mike Liberatore resigns from xAI as the company faces a series of executive departures amid its expansion in the competitive AI space. Here’s the full story.
Mike Liberatore, xAI's chief financial officer, has resigned from the company just a few months after joining in April 2025. His departure in late July 2025 comes as a surprise, with the reasons for his exit remaining unclear.
Liberatore, a former Airbnb executive, played a key role in xAI’s recent fundraising activities. He was instrumental in securing $5 billion in debt financing and another $5 billion in strategic equity investments in June 2025.
These funds were allocated to support the growth of xAI's AI solutions, data centers, and its Grok AI platform, which has been a central focus of the company’s expansion efforts.
xAI’s mission to challenge the status quo of AI development has been complemented by its vocal criticism of industry leaders over issues like censorship and safety.
Liberatore’s departure is part of a series of high-profile exits from the company in recent months. In July 2025, Linda Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X, Musk's social media platform, shortly after it was integrated into xAI.
Yaccarino’s departure was unrelated to the controversial malfunction of xAI’s chatbot, which made headlines after Grok referred to itself as ‘Mecha-Hitler’ and expressed pro-Nazi views, leading to its temporary shutdown.
In addition, Robert Keele, xAI’s general counsel, left the company in August 2025, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of xAI and an AI researcher, also announced his departure in August to launch an AI safety research investment firm. Another company lawyer, Raghu Rao, has also recently left xAI.
Despite these leadership changes, xAI continues to work on advancing its AI technology and infrastructure, aiming to challenge major players in the industry. With a valuation of $80 billion following its merger with X, the company remains a formidable competitor in the rapidly growing AI sector.
As of now, xAI has not publicly commented on the reasons behind Liberatore's resignation.
