OpenAI hands its compute buildout to a former xAI infrastructure chief

OpenAI has put Uday Ruddarraju, formerly xAI’s infrastructure engineering head, in charge of its overall compute organization—the part of the company that secures and operates the chips, networks, and data centers needed to train and run its AI models. He succeeds Sachin Katti, who is leaving the operating role and plans to remain an adviser, extending a period of leadership turnover in OpenAI’s infrastructure effort. The change matters because AI progress is no longer only about designing better models: it also depends on assembling vast, reliable physical computing capacity, making infrastructure leadership central to how quickly OpenAI can build and deliver new products.