xAI's Legal Chief Robert Keele Resigns Citing Work-Life Balance Concerns

xAI's legal chief steps down after whirlwind year | TechCrunch

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.

Robert Keele leaves xAI over work-life balance concerns

Robert Keele, xAI's head of legal, resigned this week after just over a year, citing a desire for increased time with his children and acknowledging "daylight between our worldviews" with Elon Musk. Keele announced his departure on X and LinkedIn, stating, "I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough." He characterized his tenure at the artificial intelligence startup as "incredible" and his collaboration with Musk as "the adventure of a lifetime." Despite these sentiments, Keele indicated that he could not sustain the demands of both his family and his professional role, expressing an inability to keep "riding two horses at once -- the family and the job." Upon joining xAI in May 2024, Keele assumed the role of the company's inaugural legal head. This move followed the brief operation of his own fractional legal practice, Keele Law, which he launched approximately three weeks prior. At the time of his appointment to xAI, Keele communicated his enthusiasm, noting, "Keele Law had a good run (~3 weeks!), but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to run legal at xAI," and describing himself as "beyond stoked, and insanely lucky." Keele's arrival at xAI occurred shortly before the company finalized a significant $6 billion Series B funding round in May 2024. This funding initiative, which included investments from firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, established xAI's valuation at $24 billion. Following this investment, xAI experienced a period of growth. In March of this year, xAI acquired X, the social media company also owned by Musk. Musk stated that this acquisition valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Prior to his entrepreneurial venture, Keele held legal leadership positions, serving as head of legal at Elroy Air, an autonomous aircraft manufacturer, and as general counsel at Airbus's Silicon Valley innovation center. Lily Lim will succeed Keele as xAI's head of legal. Before her legal career, Lim worked as a rocket scientist at NASA, specializing in spacecraft navigation for a project focused on mapping Venus's surface. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and intellectual property specialist, following previous legal engagements at various firms and companies, including ServiceNow. Keele's resignation aligns with a documented pattern of executive departures observed across companies associated with Elon Musk. Recent instances include the departure of X CEO Linda Yaccarino last month, and multiple senior executives leaving Tesla. Musk has publicly articulated an expectation for employees to maintain extended work hours, including periods of working and sleeping within the office environment, a practice noted during his acquisition of X, formerly Twitter. Certain newer companies within the technology sector have adopted comparable operational approaches. For example, Cognition, an AI coding startup, has indicated intentions to reduce its team size aggressively. The CEO of Cognition communicated to employees via email a stated disbelief in the concept of work-life balance.

xAI legal chief resigns due to work-life balance concerns - The Economic Times

In a post on X and LinkedIn, Keele said, "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."Robert Keele, the head of legal at Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI, stepped down after just over a year in the role, due to philosophical differences with the founder. He expressed his desire to spend more time with his two young children, whom he didn't see due to his work. His departure adds to a growing list of executive turnover across Musk's businesses. In a post on X and LinkedIn, Keele said, "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." He added he couldn't keep "riding two horses at once -- the family and the job". Keele joined xAI in May 2024 as the company's first head of legal, just before the AI startup raised $6 billion in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, which valued the company at $24 billion. During his tenure, xAI acquired Musk's social media platform X in March 2025 in a deal that valued the combined entity at $113 billion. Keele's exit comes after high-level departures from Musk's companies. In July, X CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped down after just over two years in the role, and Tesla has lost at least four of Musk's direct reports since June.