OpenAI has lost its head of data centers, Chris Malone, who left last week, according to Anissa Gardizy at the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI hired Malone in March 2025 just after it announced Stargate, the data center project with Oracle and SoftBank, but that effort stumbled and the company leaned on cloud providers instead of building its own sites. OpenAI has since gone back to running more of its own capacity by leasing whole facilities rather than renting chips, though other executives run that work. It has raised its projected compute spending to roughly $750 billion through 2030, up from about $600 billion, and signed a 10 GW lease in Ohio this month. Malone’s exit follows those of Denise Dresser, Brad Lightcap, and Fidji Simo ahead of an IPO expected in 2027.
