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 social media giant to join OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker told TechCrunch.

Devanathan will be based in Singapore and report to OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific managing director, Kiran Mani. She will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption and partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia, OpenAI said.

The executive is leaving Meta after more than a decade at the company, which has been the subject of growing scrutiny over issues such as online safety and content moderation. Devanathan was involved in the company’s decision process in the country, a person familiar with the matter said.

Devanathan’s appointment comes days after Prabhjeet Singh joined OpenAI as its India head. Singh had spent more than a decade at Uber, where he led its India and South Asia business.

OpenAI has been expanding its presence across the Asia Pacific, opening offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi over the past two years.

Following Devanathan’s departure, Meta’s India managing director, Arun Srinivas, will report directly to Benjamin Joe, the company’s vice president for Asia-Pacific, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.