- Anthony Armstrong has been named chief financial officer of xAI, Elon Musk‘s Artificial Intelligence company.
- Armstrong previously served as a banker at Morgan Stanley and has worked closely with Musk, including on the Twitter acquisition.
- He will oversee finances at both xAI and the social media platform X; current X CFO Mahmoud Reza Banki is leaving, according to reports.
- xAI is undergoing leadership changes following multiple recent executive departures, including its CEO and former CFO.
- xAI is reportedly seeking to raise $10 billion at a $200 billion valuation, although Musk has denied these fundraising reports.
Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker, has been officially appointed as chief financial officer of xAI, the artificial intelligence company owned by Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times. Armstrong began working with xAI several weeks ago and was formally named CFO in recent days.
The appointment places Armstrong in charge of finance for both xAI and the social media platform X. Sources state that Mahmoud Reza Banki, the current chief financial officer and chief strategy officer at X, is departing from his role, as reported by the Financial Times in this article.
Armstrong is considered a key adviser to Musk, having previously assisted with the Twitter purchase and during Musk’s time at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His appointment comes at a time of significant leadership changes at xAI, including the recent resignations of CEO Linda Yaccarino, general counsel Robert Keele, and previous CFO Mike Liberatore.
xAI is central to Musk‘s AI development plans, which include the AI chatbot Grok. The company has attracted investment from firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. According to reports, xAI is in discussions to raise $10 billion at a $200 billion valuation, although Musk has publicly disputed these claims.
In March, Musk merged X and xAI, with the combined group valued at $113 billion at that time. The move is part of Musk’s broader effort to develop advanced AI models to compete with products from OpenAI and Google.
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