xAI’s legal chief steps down after whirlwind year

Robert Keele, the head of legal at Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI, has stepped down after just over a year in the role. Keele announced his departure this week, stating a desire to spend more time with his young children and acknowledging “daylight between our worldviews” with Musk, who has not commented on the exit.

Keele shared the news on both X and LinkedIn, describing his time at the AI startup as “incredible” and working with Musk as “the adventure of a lifetime.” He elaborated on his decision, stating, “I love my two toddlers and I don’t get to see them enough,” and that he found it impossible to “keep riding two horses at once — the family and the job.”

Keele joined xAI in May 2024 as its first legal head. His arrival followed the launch of his own short-lived fractional legal outfit, Keele Law, which ran for approximately three weeks before he accepted the opportunity at xAI. At the time, he expressed his excitement, calling himself “beyond stoked, and insanely lucky.”

Keele’s tenure at xAI began just before the company announced a significant $6 billion Series B funding round in May 2024. This funding, backed by prominent investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, valued the AI firm at $24 billion. Shortly after, xAI experienced rapid growth, culminating in the acquisition of X, Musk’s social media company, in March of this year. Musk indicated this deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.

Before his recent entrepreneurial endeavors, Keele held leadership positions in the legal departments of other innovative companies. He previously served as head of legal at autonomous aircraft maker Elroy Air and as general counsel at Airbus’s Silicon Valley innovation center.

Taking over the legal leadership at xAI is Lily Lim. Lim brings a unique background, having worked as a rocket scientist at NASA on spacecraft navigation for projects mapping Venus’s surface before transitioning to law. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist, contributing extensive legal experience gained at various firms and companies, including ServiceNow.

Keele’s departure is indicative of a wider pattern of executive turnover across Elon Musk’s extensive business empire. This trend includes the recent departure of X CEO Linda Yaccarino last month and several top executives leaving Tesla. Musk is known for fostering a demanding work culture, expecting employees to commit significant hours, sometimes even to the extent of sleeping at the office, a situation that arose during the acquisition of X (formerly Twitter). This intensive approach to work is also visible in other emerging AI companies; for instance, Cognition, an AI coding startup, recently communicated to its employees that its CEO does not believe in work-life balance, with the company also reported to be actively managing its team size.