OpenAI has appointed a new leader to oversee its Stargate computing initiative following a strategic decision to lease more AI servers from mainstream cloud providers rather than building its own data centers, according to sources familiar with the matter.
As part of a reorganization, OpenAI has divided its computing-related work into three main teams: - Technical design of data centers used by OpenAI - Commercial partnerships with cloud providers and chip companies - On-site management of facilities utilized by OpenAI
Originally a collaborative project with Oracle and SoftBank to construct proprietary data centers, Stargate has been redefined as OpenAI's broader strategy to deploy several gigawatts of server computing capacity over the coming years.
OpenAI is engaged in intense technological competition with rivals such as Anthropic and Alphabet, though its business and technical development remain constrained by server availability. The company anticipates spending up to $665 billion on cloud servers by 2030.
Major AI developers, including Microsoft and Anthropic, are racing to secure high-quality data center resources or sign long-term server leasing agreements with cloud providers expanding their infrastructure.
While OpenAI restructures its infrastructure leadership, competitor Anthropic has also been quietly expanding its data center team in recent months, according to reports.
Sachin Katti, appointed as OpenAI's infrastructure head in late November, now oversees all Stargate teams. Katti previously served as an executive at Intel. Under the previous structure, multiple leaders reported directly to OpenAI President Greg Brockman, with teams organized by project rather than function. One team had been responsible for OpenAI's ambitious in-house data center plans, which have recently been deprioritized in favor of cloud server leasing.
In a statement, Katti said, "AI demand is growing rapidly, and our computing team has built a strong ecosystem across cloud, chips, and infrastructure to meet it. Progress is encouraging, and I look forward to continuing to develop systems that bring the benefits of AI to everyone worldwide."
Prior to Katti’s appointment, two individuals managed separate data center teams reporting to Brockman: - Peter Hoeschele, a long-time OpenAI employee and former Deloitte manager - Chris Malone, a former engineer at Meta and Alphabet
Hoeschele now reports to Katti and leads the Ecosystems and Partnerships for Industrial Compute team, internally referred to as Epic, which handles the company’s expanding commercial relationships. These include cloud service agreements with Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon, as well as chip partnerships such as a multi-year deal with Advanced Micro Devices for up to 6 gigawatts of computing power in exchange for up to 10% of AMD common stock, and an agreement with startup Cerebras Systems.
A newly formed technical engineering and design team is co-led by Malone and former Microsoft engineering head Adrian Caulfield. This team is tasked with redesigning and deploying AI server clusters used by OpenAI to better align with the company’s AI models, including decisions on cluster scale and facility location.
This group closely evaluates how different chips impact data center requirements but operates separately from the semiconductor team led by former Alphabet chip executive Richard Ho, which is collaborating with Broadcom on custom chip development. OpenAI hopes these chips will eventually reduce inference costs—the expense of running products like ChatGPT. Ho, like Katti, reports to Brockman.
Another team under Katti is led by former Alphabet data center director Nick Saddock, who manages the progress and operation of physical data centers built for OpenAI by other companies, including sites operated by Oracle where OpenAI plans to secure substantial computing capacity.
Saddock’s responsibilities include liaising with OpenAI’s commercial partners, such as construction firms and network operations teams, to ensure servers are brought online as quickly as possible. His appointment fills the vacancy left by Keith Heyde, who recently departed from his role overseeing the physical construction of Stargate data centers.
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