xAI's legal head resigns to prioritize family time
What's the story
Robert Keele has resigned as the head of legal at Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI. His departure comes after a little over a year in the role. Keele announced his decision on social media platforms X and LinkedIn, citing his desire to spend more time with his two toddlers as the primary reason for his exit. "I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough," he wrote, posting the news.
Leadership change
Role in xAI's growth
Keele's resignation comes as a major shift for xAI, which has seen rapid growth during his tenure. He joined the company in May 2024, just before it secured a massive $6 billion Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital. The investment valued xAI at $24 billion. Shortly after xAI saw rapid growth, in March this year, it acquired X in a deal that valued the company at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.
Career trajectory
Keele's extensive experience
Before joining xAI, Keele was the head of legal at Elroy Air and general counsel at Airbus's Silicon Valley innovation center. He had also briefly run his own fractional legal outfit called "Keele Law." After leaving xAI, he plans to spend more time with his family before taking on new challenges in the future.
Twitter Post
Take a look at Keele's post
I'm leaving xAI.
— Rob Keele (@keelelaw_io) August 5, 2025
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… pic.twitter.com/NyPqsPLmtK
New appointment
Lily Lim to take over as head of legal
Lily Lim will take over as the new head of legal at xAI. Before her legal career, she was a rocket scientist at NASA, where she worked on spacecraft navigation for the Venus surface mapping project. She joined xAI in late 2024 as a privacy and IP specialist after working with various firms and companies such as ServiceNow.
Executive turnover
Executive exits from Musk's companies
Keele's departure adds to the growing list of executive exits from Musk's companies. Last month, Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, resigned from her position. Tesla has also seen a string of high-profile departures in recent times. Most recently, the company disbanded its Dojo supercomputer team. Despite these changes, Musk continues to expect his employees to work long hours and even sleep at the office if necessary.