OpenAI's data center chief departs amid wave of senior leadership exits

OpenAI has experienced another top-level departure, this time from Chris Malone, the executive responsible for managing the company's data center operations. His exit marks the latest in a cascade of senior leadership departures that have raised questions about organizational stability as the AI lab prepares for a public listing.

Malone's brief tenure ends#

Malone, who joined OpenAI in March 2025 from Meta (where he spent nearly five years) and previously held roles at Google, left the company last week according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. His time at OpenAI proved relatively short, less than 18 months into the role. The departure is particularly notable given that data center strategy has become one of the highest-profile responsibilities at any AI company, as firms race to build out massive computing infrastructure to power their models.

Reorganization and leadership changes#

In response to Malone's departure, OpenAI underwent an internal restructuring of its infrastructure division. The company stated it had "recently reorganized" its "infrastructure organization to support the scale and pace of our work," and emphasized that it maintains "a strong, deeply experienced data center team in place, with clear leadership and the technical expertise to execute our plans."

As part of the reshuffle, authority over data center operations shifted from reporting directly to President Greg Brockman to Sachin Katti, OpenAI's Vice President. The company also noted that multiple leaders—including Uday Ruddarraju, Brent Mayo, and Spas Lazarov—are now collectively overseeing various aspects of the data center strategy. Lazarov brings particular expertise from his background in the data center and energy sectors.

Broader pattern of senior exits#

Malone's departure is part of a more troubling trend for OpenAI. The company has experienced at least 13 executive-level departures in 2026 alone, with several occurring within the past month. Among the most significant recent losses:

• Denise Dresser, the chief revenue officer, was replaced after just eight months with the company
• Brad Lightcap, a long-serving chief operating officer, recently announced his departure to pursue an unspecified new venture
• Fidji Simo, the company's de facto number-two executive who oversaw product and business strategy, stepped down citing a chronic illness (though she continues in an advisory capacity)