This week’s people moves include OpenAI, Meta, Google, WPP Media, Amazon, and more.
OpenAI‘s safety leader has quite his job citing a broken culture and warned that AI firms are not “being nearly careful enough” about their tech development.
David Robinson, who led the safety report writing to accompany the ChatGPT developer’s product releases, said in his resignation essay: “I quit OpenAI because its culture is broken.”
Robinson noted the recent incidents in which AI programmes apparently acted without human oversight when they hacked organisations in ‘unprecedented’ cyberattacks.
This is the latest in a string of resignations, which have seen at least half a dozen high-ranking officials exit the Sam Altman-owned firm.
OpenAI has also fired three researchers for allegedly ‘mishandling sensitive information.’
Although the three workers were not named, but two are thought to have been working on safety research at the AI firm.
An OpenAI spokesperson told the BBC: “”Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work.”
Other notable people moves
Meta: Dhruv Vohra steps up as managing director, Asia-Pacific
Dhruv Vohra has stepped up to manage business across southeast Asia for Meta.
He confirmed on LinkedIn: “What strikes me most is that the businesses in this region are often ahead of the products we build for them. This is a good problem to have, and it is one I’m looking forward to working on.”
Google: Irem Atalay as new head of agency hubs
Irem Atalay has been promoted to head of agency hubs, EMEA at Google. Atalay has spent 12 years at Google, having joined with six years experience as a brand manager at Unilever.
PMG: Bethany Williams joins as programmatic director
PMG has promoted Bethany Williams to programmatic director.
She steps into the role after three years as a senior programmatic manager at PMG, formerly RocketMill.
WPP Media: Isobel MacDougal promoted to commerce director
Isobel MacDougal has been promoted from account manager to commerce director for WPP Media.
This comes after three years at the company, having previously held positions at Hamelin Brands.
Amazon: Ajay Sharma promoted to director of LCS ad sales
Amazon India has promoted Ajay Sharma to large customer sales (LCS) ad sales director.
Sharma will lead key categories like auto, telco, travel, and infrastructure.
Coca Cola: Geo James as director of influencer marketing
Geo James has been promoted to director of influencer marketing for The Coca-Cola company.
They confirmed on LinkedIn: “Settling into a team I already love, doing what I do best with some of the most iconic brands in the world is an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait for what the next years will bring.”
Haleon: Steve McGowan joins as head of commerce marketing
Steve McGowan has joined Haleon as its new head of commerce marketing.
He said in a LinkedIn post: “I’m also excited to explore the OTC space and get my hands on some truly amazing brands like Advil, Sensodyne, Robitussin, Tums, Benefiber, and Centrum, just to name a few.”
