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

In a significant leadership shift, Sandhya Devanathan, the vice president of Meta for India and Southeast Asia, is stepping down from her role to join the artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI. This move marks a major transition for both the social media titan and the ChatGPT creator as they navigate the complex regulatory landscape of the Asia-Pacific region.

A Strategic Move for OpenAI

Based in Singapore, Devanathan will report directly to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for the Asia-Pacific region. Her mandate is expansive: she will spearhead consumer growth, drive enterprise adoption, manage strategic partnerships, and oversee regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia.

This appointment follows closely on the heels of OpenAI’s recent hiring of Prabhjeet Singh—formerly a long-time leader at Uber—as its new head for India. These high-profile acquisitions underscore OpenAI’s aggressive regional expansion, which has seen the company establish a physical presence in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Delhi over the past two years.

Meta’s Leadership Transition

Devanathan’s departure concludes a tenure of over a decade at Meta. Having joined the company in 2016, she previously led the Asia-Pacific gaming division before ascending to her regional vice president role in June of last year. Following her exit, Arun Srinivas, Meta’s managing director for India, will report directly to Benjamin Joe, the company’s vice president for the Asia-Pacific region.

"Devanathan’s transition comes at a pivotal time for Meta, which has been grappling with mounting regulatory pressure and public scrutiny in India."

Navigating Regulatory Headwinds

The timing of this leadership shuffle is notable, as Meta faces intense pressure from Indian authorities. Recent challenges include:

• Content Moderation Errors: The company recently issued an apology after Instagram inadvertently restricted a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Government Oversight: The incident led to the Indian government summoning senior Meta executives, including chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan.
• Safety Concerns: New Delhi has expressed deep concern regarding the presence of child sexual abuse material on Meta’s platforms, following reports of inappropriate advertisements.

In response to these allegations, Meta has maintained that it is taking proactive measures. The company stated it has removed violating accounts and advertisements, emphasizing that it does not intentionally target users with such content. Furthermore, Meta reported the removal of 160,000 accounts in India over the last six months based on signals related to child-exploitative activity, as it attempts to balance platform growth with increasing demands for digital safety.