xAI hires former Morgan Stanley banker Anthony Armstrong as CFO

In a significant move, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm, xAI, has appointed Anthony Armstrong, a former banker from Morgan Stanley, as its new chief financial officer. This development, reported by the Financial Times, highlights Armstrong's prior involvement in advising Musk during the Twitter acquisition. Armstrong's role will encompass managing the financial operations of both xAI and its recently merged entity, X, a transition that took place in April. His appointment comes after a period of instability within the company, as xAI had been without a CFO since Mike Liberatore's departure in July. Armstrong has been collaborating with xAI for several weeks before his official designation. The transition follows a series of high-profile exits at xAI and X, including the resignation of general counsel Robert Keele in August, who served for just over a year. Additionally, Raghu Rao, a senior attorney at the firm, and Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of xAI, also announced their departures around the same time to pursue new ventures in AI safety. Moreover, Linda Yaccarino, the former CEO of X, stepped down in July, marking a period of transformation for both companies. As Armstrong steps into this pivotal role, he will succeed Mahmoud Reza Banki, the current CFO of X, who is also set to leave. xAI has yet to respond to inquiries regarding this latest executive shift.