Latest news with #RobertKeele
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Top lawyer for Elon Musk's xAI resigns, says: The job was a ...
Robert Keele, the top lawyer at Elon Musk 's artificial intelligence company xAI, has resigned from this position. Keele stepped down after just over a year in the role, citing personal reasons and philosophical differences with Musk. Keele announced his decision to resign from xAI by sharing a post social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) and professional networking platform LinkedIn. 'I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough. The job was a dream, the team, incredible. Working with Elon on this tech, at this time, was the adventure of a lifetime,' wrote Keele. Read Robert Keele resignation post here In a post on X, Keele described his tenure at xAI as "incredible" and working with Musk as "the adventure of a lifetime. Sharing a post on X and LinkedIn, Keele wrote, 'I'm leaving xAI. (More looks weird on mobile.) I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough. The job was a dream, the team, incredible. Working with Elon on this tech, at this time, was the adventure of a lifetime. Although there's daylight between our worldviews, his vision, commitment, and smarts blew me away on the daily. But I couldn't keep riding two horses at once--the family and the job. Time to pick one. Don't know what's next, just grateful. And way more capable than I was just 16 months ago. (I one-shotted Grok Imagine, asking "what's it like to lead legal at xAI"? I may have also mentioned shoveling coal. Lulz.).' Keele's resignation comes at a time when xAI is witnessing growth and also recently secured $6 billion funding. Despite the company's momentum, Keele believes that he cannot keep 'riding two horses at once — the family and the job.' Executive turnover across Elon Musk's empire Keele's exit adds another name to the list of top executives resigning from Elon Musk-lead companies. Recently, X CEO Linda Yaccarino also resigned from her position and multiple senior level executives also stepped down from their roles at Tesla. Some analysts believe that it is Musk's demanding leadership style and intense work expectations are the reasons behind this executive turnover. Lily Lim to replace Robert Keele at xAI Robert Keele will be replaced by Lily Lim who is a former NASA engineer and has worked on spacecraft navigation for Venus mapping missions. Lim joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
xAI's legal chief steps down after whirlwind year
Robert Keele said this week that he has stepped down as xAI's head of legal after just over a year, saying he wants to spend more time with his children. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged 'daylight between our worldviews' with boss Elon Musk, who hasn't commented on Keele's exit. 'I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough,' Keele wrote, posting the news on both X and LinkedIn. Despite calling his time at the AI startup 'incredible' and working with Musk 'the adventure of a lifetime,' he said he couldn't keep 'riding two horses at once — the family and the job.' Keele's news prompted an outpouring of support on social media from xAI colleagues as well as parents. When he joined xAI in May 2024 as its first legal head, he had just launched his own, very short-lived fractional legal outfit. 'Keele Law had a good run (~3 weeks!), but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to run legal at xAI,' he wrote at the time, calling himself 'beyond stoked, and insanely lucky.' Keele arrived just before xAI announced a massive $6 billion Series B funding round in May 2024, backed by heavy hitters like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at $24 billion. Soon after, xAI began experiencing rapid growth and, in March of this year, acquired X, Musk's social media company, in a deal that, said Musk at the time, valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Before his entrepreneurial stint, Keele had been head of legal at autonomous aircraft maker Elroy Air and general counsel at Airbus's Silicon Valley innovation center. Taking over is Lily Lim, who, before becoming a lawyer, was a rocket scientist at NASA, working on spacecraft navigation for the project that mapped Venus's surface. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist after legal stints at numerous firms and companies like ServiceNow. Keele's departure fits an ongoing pattern of executive turnover across Musk's empire. X CEO Linda Yaccarino left last month, and Tesla has lost several top executives recently. Musk — who also has numerous longstanding lieutenants — openly expects employees to work long hours, even if it means sleeping at the office, as happened when he acquired X, formerly Twitter. Some newer companies appear to have adopted a similar mentality to get ahead of rivals, including AI coding startup Cognition, which is looking to aggressively shrink its team. In fact, its CEO recently told employees in an email that he doesn't believe in work-life balance.
TechCrunch
3 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
xAI's legal chief steps down after whirlwind year
Robert Keele said this week that he has stepped down as xAI's head of legal after just over a year, saying he wants to spend more time with his children. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged 'daylight between our worldviews' with boss Elon Musk, who hasn't commented on Keele's exit. 'I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough,' Keele wrote, posting the news on both X and LinkedIn. Despite calling his time at the AI startup 'incredible' and working with Musk 'the adventure of a lifetime,' he said he couldn't keep 'riding two horses at once — the family and the job.' Keele's news prompted an outpouring of support on social media from xAI colleagues as well as parents. When he joined xAI in May 2024 as its first legal head, he had just launched his own, very short-lived fractional legal outfit. 'Keele Law had a good run (~3 weeks!), but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to run legal at xAI,' he wrote at the time, calling himself 'beyond stoked, and insanely lucky.' Keele arrived just before xAI announced a massive $6 billion Series B funding round in May 2024, backed by heavy hitters like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at $24 billion. Soon after, xAI began experiencing rapid growth and, in March of this year, acquired X, Musk's social media company, in a deal that, said Musk at the time, valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Before his entrepreneurial stint, Keele had been head of legal at autonomous aircraft maker Elroy Air and general counsel at Airbus's Silicon Valley innovation center. Taking over is Lily Lim, who, before becoming a lawyer, was a rocket scientist at NASA, working on spacecraft navigation for the project that mapped Venus's surface. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist after legal stints at numerous firms and companies like ServiceNow. Keele's departure fits an ongoing pattern of executive turnover across Musk's empire. X CEO Linda Yaccarino left last month, and Tesla has lost several top executives recently. Musk — who also has numerous longstanding lieutenants — openly expects employees to work long hours, even if it means sleeping at the office, as happened when he acquired X, formerly Twitter. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Some newer companies appear to have adopted a similar mentality to get ahead of rivals, including AI coding startup Cognition, which is looking to aggressively shrink its team. In fact, its CEO recently told employees in an email that he doesn't believe in work-life balance.
