OpenAI has recruited a significant figure from the industry to enhance its artificial intelligence initiatives. Sachin Katti, previously Intel’s leading AI executive, has left the semiconductor company to take a role at OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT. This move highlights the increasing integration of AI software and specialized hardware innovation. Katti will play a vital role in designing and constructing OpenAI’s computing infrastructure, which is essential for the company’s artificial general intelligence (AGI) research. OpenAI President Greg Brockman announced Katti’s appointment on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that he will assist in powering OpenAI’s long-term goal of creating systems that can think and learn more like humans.
OpenAI, already one of the largest consumers of advanced AI chips, is intensifying its efforts to develop its own hardware solutions to address rising computing demands. The inclusion of Katti, who has both in-depth academic knowledge and practical chip design experience, indicates a strategic shift toward creating a more self-reliant technology stack capable of handling increasingly complex AI tasks. Intel confirmed Katti’s exit, mentioning that CEO Lip-Bu Tan will now oversee the company’s AI and advanced technology divisions directly. “AI remains one of Intel’s highest strategic priorities,” the company stated, reaffirming its commitment to a roadmap designed for emerging AI workloads. Katti’s move comes at a critical juncture for both companies.
For Intel, it signifies another noteworthy leadership change amid its ongoing transformation under Tan. The organization has been striving to regain its position in high-performance computing while contending with fierce competition from Nvidia, whose GPUs have set the industry standard for training large-scale AI models like ChatGPT. For OpenAI, Katti’s joining marks a significant step in enhancing its hardware capabilities—a shift that could transform how future AI models are developed and scaled. His combination of academic insight and industry experience positions him to steer OpenAI’s infrastructure strategy at a time when computing power is becoming the crucial differentiator in AI progress.
Before his tenure at Intel, Katti spent nearly 15 years at Stanford University, where he earned recognition for his contributions to networking and distributed computing research. He joined Intel four years ago to lead its networking division and was later elevated to Chief Technology and AI Officer in April when Intel restructured its leadership. Katti expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity to collaborate with the OpenAI team on building the compute infrastructure for AGI, while also expressing gratitude for his experiences at Intel over the past four years leading networking, edge computing, and AI. Under Tan’s leadership, Intel has been revitalizing its leadership team by promoting internal talent and acquiring external expertise.
Recent additions include former Arm executive Kevork Kechichian, who now heads Intel’s data center business, and Naga Chandrasekaran, who has expanded responsibilities in the foundry services division. Katti’s move underscores a broader trend in the AI sector—the urgency to fuse hardware and AI innovation more intimately than ever. As OpenAI moves forward in its quest to develop human-like intelligence, having a leader like Katti overseeing infrastructure could signify a transformative phase in the company’s journey.
