OpenAI has hired Mike Liberatore, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Elon Musk’s xAI, as its new business finance officer. This move is the latest development in the ongoing, high-stakes rivalry between the two artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouses and the broader battle for top-tier talent in the tech industry. Liberatore’s appointment comes just months after he left his position at xAI, where he was instrumental in securing a massive $10 billion in fundraising.

In his new role, Liberatore will report directly to OpenAI’s CFO, Sarah Friar, and work closely with co-founder Greg Brockman’s team. His responsibilities will center on overseeing the financing and operational strategy for OpenAI’s rapidly expanding AI infrastructure. This is a critical area as the company continues to scale its operations and build out the compute resources necessary to train and deploy more powerful AI models like GPT-5.

OpenAI Hires Former xAI CFO

The hiring of a key executive from a direct competitor highlights the intense feud between OpenAI and xAI. The rivalry, which has played out in public, includes a lawsuit filed by Musk against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging the company has deviated from its original non-profit mission. OpenAI subsequently countersued Musk for harassment.

This latest hiring is not an isolated event. There has been a pattern of talent movement between the two companies. For example, xAI has experienced other high-profile departures, including its former general counsel and a co-founder. The fierce competition for AI talent is expected to persist as companies continue to race to develop more advanced and powerful AI systems.

AI Talent War

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has triggered a global “AI talent war,” a fierce competition among companies, from tech giants to traditional industries, to recruit and retain a limited pool of highly skilled professionals. This escalating scramble for talent is being driven by the universal recognition that artificial intelligence is no longer a niche technology but a critical driver of innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage. The stakes are incredibly high, as the organizations that win this war will likely shape the future of technology and business.

The AI talent shortage is a complex issue with several root causes. A primary driver is the explosive demand for AI applications across every sector, including finance, healthcare, automotive, and retail. Companies are leveraging artificial intelligence for everything from fraud detection and drug discovery to personalized customer experiences and autonomous vehicles, creating an insatiable need for expertise.

However, the supply of qualified professionals is not keeping up. The AI field is evolving at a breakneck pace, and traditional education systems are struggling to produce enough specialists. There’s a significant skills gap between what is taught and what the industry needs. The most sought-after roles are highly specialized, including those of AI researchers, machine learning engineers, and data scientists, and the talent pool for these positions is particularly limited. This imbalance has created a high-stakes market where top-tier talent is a rare and valuable commodity.

Tech Companies Are Pouring Billions Into AI

Tech companies have been particularly aggressive in hiring AI talent, poaching leading executives from fellow tech companies and startups. In July, Google recruited Varun Mohan, the co-founder and CEO of AI coding startup Windsurf, along with a substantial portion of his research and development team.

What made the deal particularly intriguing was that Google is not acquiring Windsurf outright or taking an equity stake in the company. Instead, it was a strategic “acquihire” combined with a non-exclusive licensing agreement for some of Windsurf’s intellectual property. This arrangement allows Windsurf to remain independent and continue licensing its cutting-edge AI coding technology to other firms, while Google gains direct access to the talent and expertise that will significantly advance its Gemini project, particularly in the domain of “agentic coding” – AI tools designed to act more like autonomous software development collaborators.

Meta Has Poached AI Talent from Other Tech Companies

Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have also been on an AI talent hiring spree, and in June, the company acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for approximately $14.3 billion. This deal, valuing the startup at over $29 billion, is Meta’s second-largest financial commitment after its WhatsApp acquisition and is a clear indicator of Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push to bolster Meta’s artificial intelligence capabilities.

Meta has also hired Daniel Gross, co-founder and former CEO of Safe Superintelligence. His expertise in building AI products from the ground up will be instrumental in translating cutting-edge research into tangible user experiences. The company has poached key AI talent from tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Apple as Zuckerberg doubles down on the company’s bets in artificial intelligence.

Meta Platforms has also announced the acquisition of PlayAI, a specialized voice-focused AI startup.

OpenAI Acquired Jony Ive’s Startup

OpenAI is also foraying into hardware and acquired io Products, the startup company of Jony Ive, who is credited with designing several Apple products, including the iPhone. The io Products team joining OpenAI includes other former Apple design heavyweights like Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey (Ive’s successor as Apple’s head of hardware design), and Tang Tan, signaling a significant transfer of top-tier industrial design talent. This influx of expertise positions OpenAI to compete directly in the burgeoning AI hardware market, challenging established players like Apple, Google, and Meta, who are also pouring resources into AI-powered devices.

Earlier this year, some reports suggested that Apple executives internally discussed acquiring AI startup Perplexity. The reports came at a time when Apple stock has been underperforming its tech peers amid concerns that it has slackened on its efforts in artificial intelligence.

Apple Is Doubling Down on AI

Meanwhile, in their most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company has allocated more resources to AI and did not rule out a major acquisition to boost its capabilities.