Key facts
- Chris Malone, OpenAI's head of data centers, has left the company.
- Malone's departure is part of a reorganization of OpenAI's infrastructure unit.
- This exit adds to a trend of over a dozen high-profile executive departures from OpenAI this year.
- The company's planned IPO has reportedly been pushed to 2027.
- Concerns exist regarding OpenAI's valuation and profitability.
OpenAI has seen another high-profile executive departure with the exit of Chris Malone, its former head of data centers. Malone, who previously spent nearly five years at Meta and over a decade at Google, joined OpenAI in March of last year. His departure comes amid a broader trend of executive turnover at the company, with over a dozen senior employees having left this year.
Malone's exit follows the launch of the Stargate Project, a significant data center initiative in which OpenAI is a key partner. The company stated that Malone's departure is a result of a reorganization within its infrastructure organization, aimed at supporting its scale and pace of work. As part of this restructuring, Malone will now report to Vice President Sachin Katti, rather than directly to President Greg Brockman. Several other executives are reportedly overseeing the company's data center strategy.
Malone is not the only executive to leave OpenAI recently. Other notable departures include Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, product and business chief Fidji Simo, former head of ethics Chloé Bakalar, and former Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch. The company also disbanded its preparedness team and lost the former head of its Sora project. These departures have fueled questions about OpenAI's valuation and profitability, particularly as its public listing, now reportedly delayed to 2027, approaches.