OpenAI Data Center Chief Chris Malone Exits Amid Wave of Senior Departures Before 2027 IPO

Chris Malone, OpenAI's head of data centers, left the company last week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Malone had joined only in March 2025, shortly after OpenAI announced its Stargate computing initiative with Oracle and SoftBank. His departure adds to a string of recent high-level exits, including Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, COO Brad Lightcap, and Fidji Simo, who had served as second-in-command to CEO Sam Altman, all ahead of an IPO expected in 2027.

The exit comes as OpenAI has reorganized its infrastructure team and shifted toward leasing entire data centers to expand AI computing capacity. The company has also raised its projected spending on computing power to roughly $750 billion through 2030, up from an earlier estimate of approximately $600 billion reported in July, underscoring the scale of the infrastructure buildout Malone oversaw.