OpenAI has appointed Sachin Katti, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Network and Edge Group, as its new Head of Compute Infrastructure for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) development. The move underscores OpenAI’s growing emphasis on building scalable computing systems to support its rapidly advancing AI models and global user base.
Katti’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for OpenAI, as the company continues to expand its infrastructure footprint to meet the surging computational demands of large-scale AI systems. He will lead efforts to design and manage the organization’s compute stack—covering cloud partnerships, custom hardware design, and data center architecture—critical components in training and deploying frontier AI models such as ChatGPT and GPT-5.
Before joining OpenAI, Sachin Katti had a distinguished tenure at Intel, where he spearheaded the company’s AI, network, and edge computing strategy. He was responsible for developing high-performance silicon and software platforms tailored to enable efficient AI workloads. His expertise in systems architecture, data processing, and hardware acceleration is expected to strengthen OpenAI’s infrastructure foundation as it moves toward achieving artificial general intelligence.
OpenAI confirmed the appointment internally earlier this week, emphasizing that Katti will work closely with CEO Sam Altman and the research leadership team to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the company’s AI training infrastructure. His mandate will also include optimizing compute allocation for OpenAI’s partners, particularly Microsoft Azure, which currently powers the majority of OpenAI’s training and inference workloads.
A Stanford University alumnus and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, Katti is well known in the AI and networking communities for his research on wireless systems and edge computing. His transition from academia to industry has been marked by a focus on bridging theoretical innovation with practical, high-performance AI solutions.
A strategic hire for AI scalability
Katti’s move to OpenAI signals the company’s ambition to fortify its technological backbone as it scales to meet increasing demand. OpenAI’s suite of products—including ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Codex—has seen exponential adoption, with enterprise integrations expanding across industries such as education, healthcare, and software development.
The compute infrastructure required to train and serve these models has become a focal point of the company’s strategy. Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the company could invest up to USD 1.4 trillion in global AI infrastructure by 2033, spanning data centers, energy partnerships, and semiconductor innovation. Katti’s leadership is expected to play a key role in executing this long-term vision.
His responsibilities at OpenAI will include strengthening the organization’s collaborations with hardware manufacturers, optimizing GPU utilization, and exploring custom chip design to improve energy efficiency and training speed. As generative AI models become larger and more complex, the ability to manage compute resources effectively has emerged as a central competitive advantage.
Industry experts see Katti’s appointment as a signal that OpenAI is taking a deeper interest in developing proprietary infrastructure solutions. According to analysts, companies in the AI ecosystem are increasingly seeking to reduce reliance on third-party hardware vendors and cloud providers by designing custom AI accelerators and systems.
A shift from silicon to superintelligence
Katti’s move marks a rare transition from a chipmaker to a frontier AI research lab, reflecting a broader convergence between hardware and AI innovation. At Intel, he played a key role in advancing the company’s vision for AI-driven networking and edge processing, aiming to bring intelligence closer to devices and data sources.
In his new role, Katti will focus on centralizing compute efficiency at OpenAI, a critical challenge as the organization continues to expand the capabilities of its models while managing the environmental and financial costs of AI training. His work will likely align with OpenAI’s sustainability initiatives, which prioritize energy-efficient systems and renewable-powered data centers.
An OpenAI spokesperson stated that the appointment reinforces the company’s mission to responsibly scale AI capabilities. “Sachin brings a rare combination of technical depth and leadership experience in AI systems design. His expertise will help us build the compute infrastructure needed to advance toward AGI while maintaining efficiency and reliability,” the spokesperson said.
Industry and expert response
The appointment has drawn considerable attention across the AI and semiconductor industries. Analysts note that OpenAI’s recruitment of top talent from chip manufacturers like Intel indicates a growing effort to internalize expertise traditionally held by hardware firms.
A senior technology analyst commented, “This move underscores the AI industry’s ongoing shift toward vertical integration. OpenAI’s dependence on external compute vendors like NVIDIA and Microsoft has been crucial, but building internal capabilities gives it more control over innovation and costs.”
The timing of Katti’s move also coincides with a broader wave of AI infrastructure investments worldwide. Tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon have accelerated their in-house semiconductor programs to meet escalating AI workloads. OpenAI, while not a chipmaker, has increasingly expressed interest in collaborating on specialized compute solutions to enhance model performance and reduce energy consumption.
Strengthening OpenAI’s leadership bench
Katti joins OpenAI amid several high-profile leadership expansions in 2025. The company has recently onboarded senior experts in robotics, language modeling, and enterprise product development, reflecting its dual focus on research and real-world applications. His addition to the leadership team reinforces OpenAI’s vision of blending scientific innovation with robust engineering execution.
The appointment is also viewed as part of OpenAI’s efforts to strengthen its partnerships with technology leaders such as Microsoft and NVIDIA, both of which are integral to the company’s compute strategy. Katti’s prior experience at Intel positions him as a key liaison between AI research and semiconductor development—an increasingly critical intersection for scaling AI responsibly.
Conclusion
As OpenAI continues to pursue its goal of creating safe and capable artificial general intelligence, the infrastructure powering that mission remains a core priority. Sachin Katti’s appointment as Head of Compute Infrastructure highlights the company’s commitment to building the next generation of high-performance, sustainable, and intelligent AI systems.
His expertise bridges two of the most essential pillars of AI progress—hardware and intelligence—making his move from Intel to OpenAI a significant milestone in the evolution of global AI development.