Two tech giants' ongoing feud takes an unexpected turn
OpenAI has appointed Mike Liberatore, former chief financial officer at Elon Musk’s xAI, as its new business finance officer, signalling a new phase in the ongoing rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk.
According to a CNBC report, Liberatore, who left xAI in July after just three months on the job, officially began his role on Tuesday. He will report to OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar and work alongside Greg Brockman’s team, which oversees the company’s contracts and capital management for its massive cloud computing operations.
At xAI, Liberatore played a key role in arranging $10 billion in financing, including a $5 billion debt sale and a $5 billion equity raise partially backed by SpaceX, New York Post reported. He also approved major data centre expansions before departing. The reason for his exit remains unclear, amid a string of other high-profile departures from Musk’s AI startup, including general counsel Robert Keele and co-founder Igor Babuschkin.
The hire comes as tensions between Altman and Musk continue to escalate, CNBC noted. Once collaborators and friends, the two have become bitter rivals in recent years. Musk has challenged OpenAI legally over its restructuring into a for-profit entity. Altman has publicly criticised Musk’s approach, calling him “not a happy person” in an interview with Bloomberg and suggesting Musk operates “from a position of insecurity.” Musk, meanwhile, has referred to Altman as “Swindly Sam” on his social media platform X.
OpenAI has been expanding rapidly, recently valued at $500 billion, and increasing its compute spending, including a $300 billion deal with Oracle for cloud infrastructure. The company’s nonprofit parent will continue to oversee operations and hold an equity stake valued at over $100 billion, reflecting the ongoing balance between commercial ambitions and its original governance structure.
Liberatore brings significant experience from his nearly nine years at Airbnb, as well as senior finance roles at SquareTrade, eBay, and PayPal. His move to OpenAI is seen as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the company’s financial oversight as it scales its infrastructure and navigates a complex competitive landscape in artificial intelligence.
