Data-center chief exits OpenAI before the IPO

Chris Malone, the executive who oversaw OpenAI's data-center build-out, left the company last week. He held the title of head of data centers, and his exit falls into a wave of leadership departures ahead of a planned public offering, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

At a glance

• Malone took the head of data centers job in March 2025, weeks after OpenAI unveiled Stargate, the build-out with Oracle and SoftBank aimed at its rising compute needs.
• The Next Web reports that his portfolio was split after the exit, with a newly appointed chief technology officer taking over computing capacity and leasing initiatives handed to other executives.
• Malone follows chief operating officer Brad Lightcap and Fidji Simo, who led AGI deployment, out of OpenAI, while chief revenue officer Denise Dresser left after nine months in the role.

The data-center organization is the part of OpenAI that converts capital commitments into functioning compute, and losing its lead during a pre-offering window puts an unusually visible seam in the org chart. Splitting the job across a chief technology officer and separate leasing owners reads as a move toward specialization rather than a like-for-like replacement, though it also removes a single point of accountability for a program the size of Stargate.

OpenAI announced Stargate, its data-center effort with Oracle and SoftBank, shortly before Malone joined in March 2025. The program is meant to cover the company's rapidly growing computing needs, and the Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, part of the build-out Malone was hired to oversee, remains under construction.

The Next Web reports that the responsibilities were redistributed after the exit. A newly appointed chief technology officer took over computing capacity, while leasing initiatives went to other executives, splitting a role that had sat with one person since March 2025.

Malone is not the first senior exit of this cycle. Chief operating officer Brad Lightcap and Fidji Simo, who ran AGI deployment, have also left, and chief revenue officer Denise Dresser departed after nine months, with Wiz president Dali Rajic taking the role.

Who owns Stargate delivery now

The reporting does not state why Malone left or where he is going next. No successor to the head of data centers title has been named, and The Next Web describes the duties as split rather than refilled. The planned public offering that frames this run of departures has no announced date in the available reporting.