Meta executive leaves for OpenAI as the social media giant faces growing scrutiny in India

Meta’s India and Southeast Asia vice president, Sandhya Devanathan, is leaving the societal media elephantine to articulation OpenAI, the ChatGPT shaper told TechCrunch.

Devanathan volition beryllium based successful Singapore and study to OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific managing director, Kiran Mani. She volition oversee user growth, endeavor adoption and partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations crossed Southeast Asia and Australia, OpenAI said.

The enforcement is leaving Meta aft much than a decennary astatine the company, which has been the taxable of increasing scrutiny implicit issues specified arsenic online information and contented moderation. Devanathan was progressive successful the company’s determination process successful the country, a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance said.

Devanathan’s assignment comes days aft Prabhjeet Singh joined OpenAI arsenic its India head. Singh had spent much than a decennary astatine Uber, wherever helium led its India and South Asia business.

OpenAI has been expanding its beingness crossed the Asia Pacific, opening offices successful Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi implicit the past 2 years.

Following Devanathan’s departure, Meta’s India managing director, Arun Srinivas, volition study straight to Benjamin Joe, the company’s vice president for Asia-Pacific, a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance told TechCrunch.

Devanathan joined Meta successful 2016 and held respective enactment roles astatine the company, including starring its Asia Pacific gaming business, earlier being appointed vice president for India and Southeast Asia successful June past year.

Meta has faced increasing unit from Indian authorities successful caller weeks. Earlier this month, the institution apologized aft Instagram mistakenly restricted a station by Prime Minister Narendra Modi successful July. The Indian authorities summoned Meta executives including its main planetary affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, implicit the incident.

New Delhi has besides raised concerns implicit kid intersexual maltreatment worldly connected the company’s platforms. Last month, the Indian authorities sought an explanation from the institution aft a BBC study found Instagram advertisements that allegedly offered entree to specified content.

Meta said successful a blog station astatine the clip that it had removed violating ads and accounts, and rejected suggestions that it knowingly targeted specified advertisements astatine users based connected inappropriate interests. The institution besides noted that it had removed 160,000 accounts successful India implicit six months based connected signals indicating child-exploitative activity.