OpenAI has announced the hiring of Mike Liberatore, formerly the Chief Financial Officer for Elon Musk’s xAI, as its new business finance officer. Liberatore began his tenure at OpenAI on Tuesday, taking on a crucial role that will involve overseeing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure spending. He will report directly to OpenAI’s Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Friar.

Liberatore's move to OpenAI comes after a remarkably brief period at xAI, where he served for only three months this year before his departure in July. During his time at xAI, he was actively involved in the company’s fundraising initiatives and efforts to expand its data center facilities, including projects in Memphis.

This high-profile recruitment is anticipated to further inflame the already tense rivalry between OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Musk, who was a co-founder of OpenAI nearly a decade ago, later established xAI as a competing artificial intelligence venture. He has since been embroiled in a legal battle with OpenAI, filing two lawsuits alleging that the company has veered from its original founding principles and seeking to halt its transformation into a more traditional for-profit entity.

The departure of Liberatore leaves a significant void at xAI, which is currently engaged in aggressive fundraising campaigns and substantial plans for expanding its AI infrastructure, encompassing data center projects and the acquisition of advanced computing chips. Despite this, xAI’s financial operations continue with Mahmoud Reza Banki serving as CFO of X, and Jared Birchall, who manages Musk’s family office, remaining deeply involved in financial decisions across all of Musk’s companies, including xAI.