Meta Executive Leaves for OpenAI as India Scrutiny Mounts
Sandhya Devanathan jumps to OpenAI amid growing regulatory pressure on Meta in India
Published: 2026-08-29 Category: Quick Take Sources: TechCrunch
A high-profile departure
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.
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. Her appointment comes days after Prabhjeet Singh joined OpenAI as its India head, after more than a decade at Uber leading its India and South Asia business.
OpenAI's Asia-Pacific push
OpenAI has been expanding its presence across the Asia Pacific, opening offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Delhi over the past two years. The hires signal a deliberate push into one of the world's largest and fastest-growing AI markets, with senior operators who know the regulatory terrain.
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. Devanathan joined Meta in 2016 and held several leadership roles, including leading its Asia Pacific gaming business, before being appointed vice president for India and Southeast Asia in June last year.
The scrutiny behind the move
Meta has faced growing pressure from Indian authorities in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the company apologized after Instagram mistakenly restricted a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July. The Indian government summoned Meta executives, including chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan, over the incident. New Delhi has also raised concerns over child sexual abuse material on the company's platforms, seeking an explanation after a BBC report found Instagram ads that allegedly offered access to such content.
Meta said it had removed violating ads and accounts, rejected suggestions it knowingly targeted such ads, and noted it had removed 160,000 accounts in India over six months based on signals indicating child-exploitative activity. The timing of Devanathan's exit — landing at a rival that is aggressively courting the same market — is a reminder that talent flows follow both opportunity and friction.
Source: TechCrunch, "Meta executive leaves for OpenAI as the social media giant faces growing scrutiny in India" (Jagmeet Singh, August 28, 2026).