OpenAI data center chief Chris Malone is out, the latest in a string of executive exits

OpenAI's head of data centers, Chris Malone, has left the company, CNBC confirmed, adding to the wave of recent executive departures at the artificial intelligence lab.

Malone joined OpenAI in March of 2025 after previously working on data center infrastructure as a "distinguished engineer" at both Meta and Google, according to his LinkedIn. He helped oversee OpenAI's ambitious infrastructure plans, which include a target to spend roughly $600 billion on compute by 2030.

"We recently reorganized our infrastructure organization to support the scale and pace of our work," an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement. "We have a strong, deeply experienced data center team in place, with clear leadership and the technical expertise to execute our plans."

Malone's exit comes during a particularly tense moment for AI infrastructure in the U.S., where backlash against data centers is mounting rapidly. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, warned last week that data centers have become a "sleeper issue" for the entire midterm election cycle, according to a memo obtained by CNBC.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report Malone's departure.

Earlier this month, OpenAI's revenue chief, Denise Dresser, suddenly announced she would be leaving the company after less than a year in her role. Her exit came just days after Brad Lightcap, another longtime executive, said he was ending an eight-year run at OpenAI to "start something new."

In addition to Dresser and Lightcap, Fidji Simo, who had been OpenAI's product and business chief, announced last month that she would step down from her role to focus on managing a chronic illness. Four other executives left the company in April.

The string of executive departures has surprised some investors, especially as the company is working to justify its $852 billion valuation ahead of what is expected to be a massive IPO. OpenAI confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, but it hasn't officially shared when it plans to debut. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told employees in an all-hands meeting this month that OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027."

OpenAI President Greg Brockman brushed off concerns about the executive shakeups last week, telling CNBC in an interview that he doesn't think the wave of exits is "actually that atypical."

"I actually think that the difference between OpenAI and other organizations is that we are so much in the spotlight, so every departure gets scrutinized in a way that it doesn't otherwise," Brockman said.

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