OpenAI Infrastructure Lead Sachin Katti to Exit Role, Uday Ruddarraju to Head Compute

Katti said in a post on LinkedIn that he "decided to move on to build something new," and that he will keep supporting OpenAI as an advisor after his last day on Nov. 15. A company spokesperson confirmed Ruddarraju's appointment as his successor.

"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," Katti wrote. "I'm enormously proud of what our teams accomplished together and grateful to the partners who helped make it possible."

In a separate statement, Katti said he has "total confidence in Uday and the team to carry it forward," adding, "I'm a builder at heart, and I'm looking forward to building something new."

Ruddarraju joined OpenAI in July of last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously served as head of infrastructure engineering at Elon Musk's xAI, which was acquired by SpaceX earlier this year.

The compute organization Katti is leaving is central to OpenAI's strategy. It develops the company's infrastructure roadmap and is responsible for ensuring the company can train and serve its models. OpenAI is targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spending by 2030 and is involved in multi-billion-dollar data center projects in states including Ohio, Texas and Georgia.

The leadership change comes as AI infrastructure faces mounting resistance in the United States. Opposition to data centers has grown over concerns about noise, electricity rates and water consumption, and the issue has become a flashpoint in the upcoming midterm elections, where candidates from both parties have campaigned against the facilities.

Katti's departure is the latest in a series of executive exits at OpenAI this year. In July, Fidji Simo, the company's product and business chief, said she would move into an advisory role to focus on recovery after what she described as a severe exacerbation of a chronic illness. The following month, longtime OpenAI executive Brad Lightcap and revenue chief Denise Dresser also left the company.

OpenAI President Greg Brockman told CNBC at the time that he does not consider the wave of departures atypical for a young company. He said that because OpenAI is in the spotlight, "every departure gets scrutinized in a way that it doesn't otherwise."

"There have been different eras where we have different sets of, of leaders in place," Brockman said. "I'm a constant, Sam [Altman] is a constant, and I think that we are stronger because of that resilience and diversity."