MAM
IPL 8: Kings XI Punjab tops sponsorship list with 20 partners
MUMBAI: Ready and upbeat to enter the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 8, Kings XI Punjab has roped in 20 sponsors and partners.
Tata Motors Prima is the official title sponsor for IPL season 8. HTC, Manforce, ACC, Royal Stag, Pan Parag – Mouth Freshener and DCB Bank are all official principal sponsors, while Kingfisher, Britannia and Woo are the official good times partner, official goodness partner and official matchmaking app respectively.
Kings XI Punjab’s association with Pepsi as the official beverage partner continues. TYKA is the official kitting partner, whereas Homeland Heights is the official luxury homes partner. The team has roped in CashUrDrive, Bookmyshow and Kyazoonga as official outdoor partner and official ticketing partners respectively.
Sport & Beyond and T10 Sports are the official merchandise partners. BlippAR is the official augmented reality partner and Best Deal TV has come on board as the official TV shopping partner.
Kings XI Punjab COO Fraser Castellino said, “We are really happy to welcome all of our sponsors who have renewed their association with us since last season and extend a special welcome to the new partners joining us this year. We stand committed to delivering a solid on-ground performance and hope this will help all of our partners benefit from their association with Kings XI Punjab.”
Kings XI Punjab will play its first match on 10 April, 2015 against Rajasthan Royals at MCA International Stadium, Pune.
MAM
Three senior OpenAI infrastructure executives join Meta
Key members of Stargate project move to rival amid aggressive AI spending race.
MUMBAI: Three key architects of OpenAI’s ambitious data centre plans have switched sides and joined Meta Platforms, according to people familiar with the matter. Peter Hoeschele, who played a central role in OpenAI’s high-profile Stargate initiative, is among the new hires. He is joined by Shamez Hemani, who focused on computing strategy and business development, and Anuj Saharan, another leader in the computing organisation. The Information first reported their departure from OpenAI on Thursday.
The moves come as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to spend aggressively on AI infrastructure. The company is projecting capital expenditure of up to $135 billion this year alone, with hundreds of billions more expected before the end of the decade to support its Meta Superintelligence Labs and new models such as Muse Spark.
OpenAI, which is pushing ahead with massive data centre expansion, had described its early lead in securing computing power as a competitive advantage. Stargate, originally announced last year as a $500 billion venture involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, has since become an umbrella term for the company’s broader data centre ambitions. However, the project has seen recent adjustments, including a pause on its UK plans and the decision not to expand the Abilene, Texas site.
A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment, while Hoeschele, Hemani, and Saharan also declined to comment. OpenAI said it was grateful for the contributions of the three employees and remains focused on hiring talent for its infrastructure plans. The company recently brought in former Intel executive Sachin Katti to lead its industrial compute efforts.
In the high-stakes race to build the future of artificial intelligence, talent is proving to be as valuable as computing power itself. Meta’s latest hires suggest the competition for top infrastructure minds is intensifying, even as OpenAI continues to scale its own ambitious projects. The move highlights how quickly the AI talent war is heating up across Silicon Valley.
