A key executive overseeing OpenAI's data centers has reportedly resigned.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 25th, citing sources, that Chris Malone, head of OpenAI's data centers, left OpenAI last week.
The former head, Malone, previously a principal engineer at Meta and Google, joined OpenAI in March, right after the announcement of the large-scale data center buildout plan "Stargate."
However, the Stargate plan faced difficulties from the early stages in areas such as partnerships and planning, and since then OpenAI has been shifting its infrastructure strategy to leasing arrangements with cloud providers.
OpenAI has recently resumed building its own data centers, but sources said the project is being led by managers other than the former head, Malone.
The resignation of the former head, Malone, also appears to have been influenced by a reorganization within the infrastructure group.
Malone had originally reported directly to President Greg Brockman, but after the group's reorganization, the unit was moved under Vice President Sachin Katti.
Going forward, OpenAI's data center operations are expected to be overseen by Uday Rudaraju, chief technology officer (CTO) for compute capacity, and Brent Mayo, among others. They joined OpenAI after taking part in building Elon Musk's Colossus data center in Memphis, Tennessee.
Meanwhile, the market is growing more concerned as top executives continue to leave ahead of the IPO.
Fidji Simo, the No. 2 who served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the institutional sector, resigned last month citing treatment for a chronic illness. This month, former chief operating officer (COO) Brad Lightcap and chief revenue officer (CRO) Dennis DeRecer also stepped down.
In a CNBC interview about the talent departures, President Greg Brockman said, "We're getting so much attention that departures are simply being scrutinized more closely than at other corporations," adding, "I don't actually think it's all that unusual."