Chris Malone, OpenAI’s former head of data centers, left the company last week (around mid-to-late August 2026). This is the latest in a series of high-profile executive departures as the company scales its infrastructure and prepares for a potential IPO.
Malone joined OpenAI in March 2025, shortly after the announcement of the Stargate Project (a major data-center initiative involving partners such as Oracle, SoftBank, Nvidia, and Microsoft). He previously spent nearly five years at Meta and more than a decade at Google in distinguished engineering roles focused on data-center infrastructure. His tenure at OpenAI lasted roughly 17 months.
OpenAI confirmed the departure. A spokesperson stated that the company “recently reorganized our infrastructure organization to support the scale and pace of our work” and that “we have a strong, deeply experienced data center team in place, with clear leadership and the technical expertise to execute our plans.” As part of the reorganization, Malone’s reporting line shifted away from President Greg Brockman to Vice President Sachin Katti. Other leaders now handling data-center efforts include Uday Ruddarraju (data-center team), Brent Mayo (build and delivery), and Spas Lazarov (engineering). Some reports also note a pivot toward more leasing of facilities alongside build-outs.
This exit adds to a broader wave of senior departures in 2026 (reports cite around 12–13 executives). Recent ones include:
- Revenue chief Denise Dresser (left after less than a year; replaced by Dali Rajic).
- Longtime executive/former COO Brad Lightcap (departing after about eight years to “start something new”).
- Product and business chief Fidji Simo (stepped down amid health issues, remaining in an advisory capacity).
- Earlier exits in April and mid-year involving figures in product, science, safety, ethics, and other areas (e.g., Kevin Weil, and others).
OpenAI President Greg Brockman has described the turnover as not “actually that atypical,” attributing extra attention to the company’s high profile. The company is pursuing ambitious compute spending (reports mention targets on the order of hundreds of billions by 2030) and has indicated plans to go public in 2027 (or possibly sooner), according to CFO Sarah Friar’s comments to employees. OpenAI’s valuation has been cited around $852 billion in related coverage.
The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and subsequently confirmed/covered by outlets including TechCrunch, CNBC, Bloomberg, and others. No specific reason for Malone’s individual departure beyond the reorganization has been publicly detailed.
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