Sachin Katti is departing his role leading OpenAI's infrastructure efforts after approximately one year. He announced the move Wednesday via LinkedIn and will remain an advisor through Nov. 15.
Uday Ruddarraju, previously OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer of compute, will lead the company's overall compute organization, a spokesperson confirmed. Ruddarraju joined OpenAI in July after serving as head of infrastructure engineering at xAI, the AI company owned by SpaceX.
OpenAI has publicly targeted roughly $600 billion in total compute spending by 2030, a figure that anchors its product roadmap and expansion strategy. The company is actively building data centers in Ohio, Texas and Georgia—facilities critical for the specialized hardware required to train and serve large-scale AI models.
Katti's departing statement underscored the breadth of the role: "Building AI infrastructure at this scale has given me an incredible view into every dimension of the compute world, from silicon and systems to datacenters, energy, supply chains, financing, and the economics of AI."
The transition arrives during mounting public backlash over U.S. data center expansion. Facilities face criticism over noise, electricity rates and water consumption—issues that have surfaced in midterm election campaigns from both parties.
The compute organization manages not just hardware deployment but the strategic economics underlying AI infrastructure: silicon procurement, energy contracts and supply chain logistics. Efficiency in these domains will directly affect OpenAI's long-term profitability and competitive position.
Katti's departure is the latest executive shuffle at OpenAI. In July, Fidji Simo, the company's product and business chief, moved into an advisory role. Brad Lightcap and revenue chief Denise Dresser also left in recent months.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman told CNBC that such departures are typical for a young company under significant public scrutiny, adding that core leadership—himself and CEO Sam Altman—remains stable.
