Top Lawyer Leaves Elon Musk's xAI Startup to Spend More Time with Family

In a recent development, Robert Keele, the former general counsel of Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI, has departed the company. Keele, who joined xAI back in May 2024, has cited a desire to spend more time with his two young children as the primary reason for his departure.

Describing his experience at xAI as "incredible" and working with Musk as the "adventure of a lifetime," Keele acknowledged that he could no longer maintain the delicate balance between the demands of his job and the needs of his family. "I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough," he posted on Tuesday, indicating that the decision to leave was a difficult but necessary one.

Keele's departure comes at a busy time for xAI, which recently merged with the social network X (formerly known as Twitter) in a deal valuing the combined entity at $113 billion. The startup is also embroiled in a legal battle with OpenAI, as Musk has sued the rival AI company to block its attempted non-profit conversion.

Despite the exciting developments at xAI, Keele felt that he could no longer "ride two horses at once -- the family and the job." In his farewell message, he included an AI-generated video of a man shoveling coal into a furnace labeled "xAI," perhaps as a lighthearted nod to the demands of his former role.

Lily Lim, who previously headed privacy, IP protection, and other legal affairs at xAI, has now taken over as the company's new legal leader.