OpenAI’s Singapore-based Asia-Pacific policy head to leave after 6 months

OPENAI’s most senior Asia-Pacific public policy executive is departing after six months in the job, according to a person familiar with the matter, just as the ChatGPT maker faces scrutiny from regulators in the region.

The executive, Lee Sanghyun, is based in Singapore and joined OpenAI in April after six years at Google, according to his LinkedIn profile. The reasons for his exit were not immediately clear. The person familiar asked not to be identified discussing a private matter.

OpenAI declined to comment. Lee did not respond to requests for comment.

The San Francisco-based startup in October apologised for its artificial intelligence models recently breaching Australian government websites, pledging to work to prevent similar incidents and to respond faster if they do occur.

In his role, Lee has led OpenAI’s public policy and government engagement across Australia, Japan, South Korea, India and South-east Asia, according to his profile. He builds and manages “relationships with senior policymakers, regulators, and institutions to support the responsible development and adoption of AI,” the profile says.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is scrutinising OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI firms about the safety of their products amid high-profile cybersecurity incidents.

Public policy staff typically advise companies on regulatory issues and liaise with governments. The Asia-Pacific region is key to OpenAI in part because it is home to populous, often youthful markets that support the company’s consumer growth and enterprise adoption as it competes against rivals such as Anthropic.

OpenAI has in recent years opened offices in locations including India, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

OpenAI is in discussions with investors to raise US$30 billion or more in a funding round that would value the firm at about US$1.4 trillion, Bloomberg News has reported. The company is expecting to reach or exceed US$70 billion in annualised revenue by the end of 2026.

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Before joining OpenAI, Lee was Google’s global head of government affairs and public policy strategy for platforms and devices, working across markets such as the US, European Union, and several Asia-Pacific countries, according to his LinkedIn profile. BLOOMBERG