In a LinkedIn announcement, Ruddarraju shared that his first year at OpenAI has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. He also discussed ambitious plans for OpenAI to develop one of the largest computing infrastructures in the world.
“We’re on a mission to establish the world’s largest compute footprint to ensure that frontier AI can benefit everyone and every workflow. We have an exciting ramp-up and roadmap ahead,” he stated.
Who is Uday Ruddarraju?
Ruddarraju earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology in India. He later moved to the United States, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.
He started his career through technology internships at companies such as Amazon and Capital IQ. Subsequently, he joined eBay, where he spent over five years focusing on cloud technology and software systems. He progressed from a software engineer to a technical lead during his tenure at eBay.
In 2018, Ruddarraju began working at Robinhood, a US-based financial services firm. He held various leadership positions over six years and ultimately rose to Senior Director of Engineering and Head of Infrastructure.
In 2024, he became Head of Infrastructure Engineering at Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI. After his exit, he posted on X, “Thank you @elonmusk and everyone at xAI for the rare opportunity to contribute to something truly foundational with Colossus. It was an honor to be part of such a bold mission and to witness firsthand the relentless focus and execution involved.”
After an unforgettable ride, I’ve decided to move on from @xai and yesterday was my last day.
When I first joined, I thought everyone was absolutely nuts for thinking we could deploy 100K GPUs in 4 months, especially without a fully functioning site. Watching us go and double…
— Uday Ruddarraju (@udayruddarraju) July 8, 2025
He joined OpenAI in 2025 as Head of Compute and Infrastructure. After approximately a year, he was elevated to CTO of Compute in July 2026.
