Digital
Truecaller dials up the drama with ‘Play’
MUMBAI: Truecaller Ads is turning up the volume on mobile advertising with the launch of Truecaller Play, a shiny new toolbox of rich media ad formats designed to captivate consumers in a mobile-first world. This isn’t your standard banner fare — it’s high-impact, high-recall, and built to feel native in a user’s everyday digital rhythm.
Touted as the next evolution in brand storytelling, Truecaller Play lets advertisers serve video-first, interactive creatives right inside the app’s daily touchpoints. With users already engaged and distractions at bay, brands now have a golden opportunity to grab attention where it matters most — during moments of pure, undivided focus.
The new offering compliments Truecaller’s existing heavy-hitters — the 3 billion daily Roadblock and the Truecaller Masthead — by offering an added layer of creative freedom, all powered by the platform’s enviable trove of first-party data. With over 10,000 advertisers on board and more than 5 billion daily brand impressions, the scale is nothing short of staggering.
Truecaller VP, global ad sales business, Hemant Arora said, “At Truecaller ads, we’ve always believed that trust and utility are the cornerstones of meaningful engagement. With Truecaller Play, we’re not just introducing another ad product; we’re offering brands a rare opportunity to connect during moments of genuine user focus. It’s about placing your story exactly where attention is highest and distractions are lowest. That’s the power and promise of Truecaller Play.”
What’s in the playbook?
● Custom rich nedia formats: From snackable videos to cinematic ad experiences, tailored to drive everything from awareness to conversions.
● Native integration: Ads that feel like part of the flow, not an interruption.
● Creative in tow: Truecaller Ads’ in-house team helps brands craft thumb-stopping visuals.
● Precision at scale: Target users with laser accuracy, thanks to proprietary user data.
Whether it’s a D2C disruptor or a legacy FMCG giant, Truecaller Play gives brands the creative arsenal to move beyond static displays and into the age of mobile magic — all while keeping users, well, on the line.
Digital
OpenAI’s Stargate lead Peter Hoeschele exits with two senior leaders
Trio behind compute push set to join new startup amid leadership reshuffle
SAN FRANCISCO: Peter Hoeschele, a key figure behind OpenAI’s early Stargate data centre initiative, has exited the company, according to a report by The Information.
The departure is part of a broader leadership shift, with two other senior executives, Shamez Hemani and Anuj Saharan, also set to leave in the coming days. All three are expected to join the same new startup, although details about the venture remain under wraps.
The trio played a central role in OpenAI’s Stargate effort, an initiative aimed at building large-scale data centre capacity in-house to reduce reliance on external infrastructure providers. Their exits mark a notable moment for the company’s compute strategy as it continues to scale rapidly.
OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to The Information, “We’re grateful for the contributions Peter, Shamez, and Anuj have made to OpenAI and wish them the very best in what comes next.” The company also pointed to the recent appointment of Sachin Katti to lead its industrial compute organisation, signalling continuity in its infrastructure roadmap.
OpenAI has indicated that it does not plan to directly replace Hoeschele’s role, suggesting a possible restructuring of responsibilities within the team.
As competition intensifies in the race to build next-generation AI systems, leadership changes in core infrastructure teams are likely to draw close attention. For now, the spotlight shifts to what this departing trio builds next, and how OpenAI adapts as it scales its ambitions.
