Open AI has lost another senior executive as the company continues to reorganize its rapidly expanding infrastructure operations.
Chris Malone, who previously led the company’s data center activities, reportedly left OpenAI last week after joining the artificial intelligence company in March 2025.

Malone brought extensive experience to the position, having previously worked at Meta for several years and spent more than a decade at Google.
His arrival came shortly after the announcement of the Stargate initiative, a major effort focused on developing large scale artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers in the United States.

The project involves several major technology and investment companies.

The exact reason for Malone’s departure has not been made public. OpenAI said it had recently reorganized its infrastructure division to keep pace with the growing scale of its operations.

The company also emphasized that it has an experienced data center team with established leadership and the technical expertise required to execute its infrastructure plans.

Several executives are now involved in different aspects of OpenAI’s data center operations.

Uday Ruddarraju leads the company’s data center team, while Brent Mayo oversees construction and delivery activities. Spas Lazarov, who has experience in the data center and energy sectors, is responsible for data center engineering.

Malone’s departure adds to a broader wave of senior executive changes at OpenAI during 2026.

Other prominent departures have included former chief operating officer Brad Lightcap and chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, while Fidji Simo stepped away from her senior leadership role and remains with the company as an adviser.

The continuing turnover has attracted attention as OpenAI expands its infrastructure investments and reportedly prepares for a potential public listing.

Company executives have argued that the unusually high level of public attention surrounding OpenAI makes individual departures appear more significant than they might otherwise be.

Source:Techcrunch