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Zenith bags media mandate for HONOR Smartphones
MUMBAI: Zenith has won the media mandate of HONOR, a global leading smartphone e-brand, in India. This includes the mainline media and digital duties of the brand. The business was won after a tightly contested multi-agency pitch.
HONOR India CMO Winston Li said, “It was a comprehensive pitch process and among other agencies, we were impressed with Zenith’s approach to drive business results. As a TechChic brand, we were looking for innovative ideas and fresh thinking that matches our style of working, brand and product proposition. We look forward to work with them.”
Zenith India CEO and Publicis Media India global partnerships head Tanmay Mohanty said, “We are tremendously delighted at the win. Zenith will look to leverage its strong ROI+ proposition and expertise in digital marketing to building market leadership for HONOR. Our focus on the full
consumer journey and a single view across touchpoints will unlock new opportunities for the brand.”
Working towards their 1+8+N strategy, HONOR recently launched a series of products in smartphone and wearables category – the first pop-up camera smartphone – HONOR 9X, the smart and stylish HONOR MagicWatch 2, versatile HONOR Band 5i and HONOR Sport and Sport Pro Bluetooth Earphones.
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.
