xAI's legal chief resigns after eventful year

Robert Keele leaves xAI to focus on family, highlighting CEO turnover in Musk's firms.

: Robert Keele announced his resignation as xAI's head of legal to prioritize family time, particularly with his toddlers. Despite appreciating the experience of working with Elon Musk, Keele found it challenging to balance work and family commitments. Keele's departure follows a year of notable events for xAI, including a $6 billion Series B funding round. Shortly after Keele's appointment, xAI acquired Musk’s social media company, significantly boosting its valuation.

Robert Keele has stepped down from his position as xAI's head of legal after a little over a year in the role. According to Keele, he made this decision to devote more time to his young children, citing the struggle of balancing both family and his demanding job at xAI. "I love my two toddlers and I don’t get to see them enough," Keele shared, highlighting the personal reasons behind his departure. Keele, who joined xAI in May 2024, expressed his mixed feelings about leaving, describing his journey at the AI startup as "the adventure of a lifetime."

Keele stated that there was a difference in worldviews between him and xAI’s founder Elon Musk, although Musk has not publicly commented on the departure. Keele's decision was met with supportive remarks from xAI colleagues and parents on social media, who acknowledged the importance of work-life balance. During his tenure, Keele came aboard just before xAI announced a $6 billion Series B funding round secured by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, catapulting the company’s valuation to $24 billion.

In an impactful part of xAI's growth, Keele's tenure included xAI acquiring Musk's social media platform. The deal, which took place in March, valued xAI at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion, adding significant momentum to the narrative around xAI's rapid expansion. Previously, Keele has also held key legal positions, including as head of legal at Elroy Air and general counsel at Airbus' Silicon Valley innovation center.

Lily Lim is set to replace Keele as xAI's head of legal. Lim brings a diverse background to the role, having been a rocket scientist at NASA focusing on spacecraft navigation before transitioning into law. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist, with previous professional experiences at ServiceNow and various other legal firms. Her transition into the lead legal role at xAI marks yet another significant change within the company’s leadership.

The departure of Keele represents a larger pattern of executive turnover within companies under the leadership of Elon Musk. Instances like the recent resignation of X CEO Linda Yaccarino and several top executives at Tesla suggest a culture that perhaps demands a high level of commitment. Musk is known for his expectation of long working hours, sometimes extending to employees sleeping at the office, reflecting his intense work culture that aims at pushing boundaries within the tech space while spurring frequent leadership changes.

Sources: TechCrunch, New York Post, X, LinkedIn

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