Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has hired Mike Liberatore, who briefly worked as chief financial officer (CFO) at xAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup led by longtime rival Elon Musk.
CNBC reported that an OpenAI Spokesperson said Liberatore will start work on the 16th (local time). The Spokesperson added that he will report to CFO Sarah Friar and is set to work with the team that manages the company's contracts and capital.
Liberatore served as CFO at xAI for three months starting in 4th. At the time, he helped arrange $5 billion (6.8985 trillion won) in debt financing, attract $5 billion in equity investment, and secure approval for major data center expansion plans. Previously, he held senior finance roles at eBay and PayPal and spent about nine years at Airbnb.
OpenAI's hiring of Liberatore comes as tensions deepen between Altman and Musk. Musk, who participated as an investor when OpenAI was founded in 2015, filed a lawsuit last year seeking to halt OpenAI's transition to a for-profit entity. In April, OpenAI countersued Musk, calling it "a malicious tactic to hinder OpenAI's growth."
Also, an investor consortium led by Musk delivered a proposal to OpenAI in Feb. to acquire OpenAI's controlling equity for $97.4 billion (about 135 trillion won), which OpenAI's board unanimously rejected as a sham takeover attempt meant to harass the company. Musk resigned from OpenAI's board in 2018 and disposed of all his investment equity.