MAM
Nidhi Bhasin appointed as chief executive officer for Digital Green Trust
Mumbai – Bringing over 25 years of transformational leadership experience in social development and technology for good, Nidhi Bhasin is now leading Digital Green Trust in its mission to empower millions of Indian farmers.
For 17 years, Digital Green Trust (DGT) has been dedicated to empowering small and marginal farmers in India, reaching over 4.7 million farmers. Leveraging digital technology to promote sustainable agriculture, DGT helps these farmers navigate significant transformations in the agriculture sector, increasing their resilience and adaptability in the face of global challenges. The organization is pleased to announce the appointment of Nidhi Bhasin as its new chief executive officer for India, based in New Delhi.
With over 25 years of experience in social development, program management, and nonprofit leadership, Bhasin brings a wealth of expertise to Digital Green Trust. Prior to joining Digital Green Trust, she served as CEO of Nasscom Foundation, where she transformed the organization and took it to the next level by championing technology for social good and worked to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities across India. Before that, she spent two decades at Concern India Foundation, leading initiatives in education, health, and community development, particularly for women.
In her new role, Bhasin will lead a team of over 80 employees at Digital Green Trust, focused on training Indian farmers in sustainable agricultural practices through innovative tools like Farmer.Chat, an AI-powered assistant. She sees great potential in leveraging technology to improve the lives of tens of millions of farmers in the years to come.
“I am excited to continue building on the solid foundational work done by Digital Green Trust, as we work to scale our impact, in numbers and depth. Digital Green Trust is in a unique position to enable the agriculture ecosystem by bringing Government, philanthropies and corporates together at the intersection of technology, gender, climate and sustainability,” said Bhasin. “I look forward to driving thought leadership initiatives that can transform and create real impact on livelihoods in rural communities”, says Bhasin.
Digital Green Trust Board chairperson Tejash Shah noted, “In Nidhi Bhasin, we see a leader whose dedication to social good, paired with her deep expertise in technology, perfectly aligns with our mission. Her insights and energy will be instrumental in advancing Digital Green Trust’s efforts to revolutionize agricultural practices for the betterment of farmers and their communities. I look forward to seeing her vision unfold.”
Digital
OpenAI drops Sora AI video tool, ends planned $1 billion Disney deal
Pivot to coding and AGI leaves media giant rethinking AI tie-up plans
CALIFORNIA: In a move that has sent ripples through both Hollywood and Silicon Valley, OpenAI has pulled the plug on its much-hyped AI video tool Sora, abruptly ending what was shaping up to be a landmark partnership with The Walt Disney Company.
According to media reports, the decision came with little warning. Teams from both sides had been working on a Sora-linked project when the shutdown was communicated, catching even those close to the collaboration off guard.
The fallout is significant. The move effectively scraps a proposed $1 billion, three-year agreement that would have seen Disney invest in OpenAI while opening up access to its vast library of characters for AI-generated short-form video content. The deal, however, had not been finalised and no funds had changed hands.
Sora, unveiled in early 2024, had dazzled the industry with its ability to generate cinematic-quality video from simple text prompts, triggering a wave of competing launches from AI players across the United States and China. Its sudden exit marks a sharp turn in OpenAI’s strategy.
The company is now redirecting its focus towards more commercially scalable areas such as coding tools, enterprise solutions and the long-term pursuit of artificial general intelligence. Internally, resources required to run the video model are understood to have weighed on other priorities, accelerating the decision.
Leadership roles are also evolving to match the shift. Sam Altman continues to steer the broader vision, while Fidji Simo’s remit has been realigned towards deploying AGI capabilities as part of a wider push to consolidate offerings into a unified platform.
For Disney, the setback is more strategic than financial. The company is said to be evaluating alternative ways to collaborate with OpenAI, even as it recalibrates its approach to generative AI in storytelling.
For the wider industry, the episode is a reminder that in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, even the most dazzling innovations can have a surprisingly short shelf life.
