• Chris Malone has left OpenAI after about 17 months as head of data centres, following an earlier reorganisation of the company’s infrastructure team
  • OpenAI now has separate leaders for Stargate, compute, data-centre engineering and build and delivery

The fact

Chris Malone has left OpenAI after about a year and a half as head of data centres. He joined in March 2025 after nearly five years at Meta and almost 12 years at Google, where he worked on data-centre infrastructure and hardware. OpenAI confirmed the departure but has not disclosed why he left.

The exit follows an infrastructure reorganisation earlier this year. Data Center Dynamics reported that OpenAI divided its compute and infrastructure work into teams covering data-centre design, commercial partnerships with cloud and chip companies, and management of the facilities it uses. Sachin Katti oversees Stargate, while Spas Lazarov leads data-centre engineering, Uday Ruddarraju is CTO of compute and Brent Mayo heads data-centre build and delivery. OpenAI said it has a data-centre team with clear leadership and the technical expertise to execute its plans.

The assessment

OpenAI’s reorganisation places different parts of data-centre delivery under specialised leaders. Facility design, compute requirements and physical build work therefore have to move through separate leadership lines as projects progress from planning into delivery.

The practical issue after Malone’s departure is the hand-off between those functions. Lazarov leads engineering, Mayo leads build and delivery, Ruddarraju leads compute and Katti oversees Stargate. The available reporting does not show that any of those responsibilities are unfilled, nor does Malone’s exit establish that a project has been delayed.

For BTW readers, OpenAI’s data-centre programme now has named leaders for separate parts of the infrastructure workflow. Malone’s departure matters if those hand-offs weaken or responsibilities move again; on current evidence, the reorganisation has redistributed oversight rather than shown that project delivery has broken down.

What to watch

Watch whether OpenAI appoints another overall head of data centres or keeps the current division of responsibilities under Katti, Ruddarraju, Lazarov and Mayo. Changes to reporting lines, engineering leadership or build-and-delivery ownership would show whether the reorganisation is still evolving. Project delivery milestones will provide the practical test of whether those hand-offs are working.