OpenAI has appointed Sandhya Devanathan to lead Southeast Asia and Australia, alongside efforts to expand the company’s AI work with Thai startups and higher education.
The Bangkok Post reported Nov. 13 that Devanathan took up the role last month. She spent more than 10 years at Meta and most recently served as vice president for India and Southeast Asia, the newspaper said.
Grace Chua, OpenAI’s head of communications for Southeast Asia, said Thailand is among the 20 countries with the largest weekly active user bases for both ChatGPT and Codex. Separately, she said weekly ChatGPT users in Thailand grew 40% year over year.
Chua also said people in Thailand spent more than 2.5 times as much time using ChatGPT voice as a year earlier. Common uses include translation, language practice, creative writing and digital how-to guidance, she said. People ages 18 to 24 make up the largest group of active users.
The Bangkok Post reported that OpenAI is working with Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to launch an AI accelerator for startups. The planned program aims to help founders turn ideas into products designed for practical use.
Separately, OpenAI and Mahidol University announced access to ChatGPT Edu across the university for students, faculty members and researchers, the Bangkok Post reported. It described Mahidol as the first higher education institution in Thailand to deploy the service throughout its campus.
The report said the collaboration draws on Mahidol’s work in medicine and public health research. The initiative is intended to support teaching and learning in Thailand’s education system, while giving faculty members, students and researchers guidance and opportunities to try AI applications in their fields. The university and OpenAI also aim to support Thai- and English-language learning and research relevant to Thailand and international audiences.
Together, the efforts span startup product development, consumer use and AI in higher education in Thailand.
