iWorld
Facebook India onboards Rajiv Aggarwal as director of public policy
Mumbai: Facebook India on Monday announced the appointment of Rajiv Aggarwal, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, as director of public policy. He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year.
In this role, Aggarwal will lead policy development initiatives for the company that covers user safety, data protection & privacy, inclusion, and internet governance, Facebook said in a statement.
He will report to Facebook India VP and MD Ajit Mohan and will be part of the India leadership team, it added.
“We realise we are deeply immersed in the fabric of India and we have the opportunity to help build a more inclusive and safe internet that benefits everyone in the country,” Mohan said in a statement. “I am thrilled that Rajiv is joining us to lead the public policy team. With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognise as our responsibility,” he added.
Aggarwal joins the social media giant from Uber where he was serving as the head of public policy for India and South Asia markets for nearly two years.
He comes with over 26 years of experience as an IAS officer, working from grassroots to the global level, including as a district magistrate in nine districts across the state of Uttar Pradesh.
During his tenure as an administrative officer, he steered India’s first national policy on intellectual property rights (IPRs) as joint secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (m/o commerce) and was instrumental in the digital transformation of India’s IP offices, said the statement.
He has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being the country’s lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations, it added.
iWorld
OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk’s lawsuit ahead of trial
Company calls claims “baseless” and accuses Musk of trying to disrupt a rival.
MUMBAI: When the stakes are measured in billions and egos are involved, even Silicon Valley titans can turn a courtroom into a battlefield. OpenAI has issued a sharp public response to Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit, accusing the billionaire of filing the case to harass a competitor rather than address genuine concerns. In a strongly worded statement shared on its official X account, OpenAI described Musk’s allegations as “baseless” and suggested the lawsuit is an attempt to disrupt the company as the case heads toward trial later this month in Oakland, California.
The response comes after Musk’s legal team recently amended the complaint, proposing that any damages potentially exceeding $150 billion should go to OpenAI’s nonprofit entity rather than to Musk personally. OpenAI questioned the timing and motive behind this change, calling it a late-stage attempt to “pretend to change his tune” on the nonprofit structure.
The company further labelled the lawsuit a “harassment campaign”, arguing that Musk’s actions are driven by personal rivalry, ego, and a desire for greater control and financial upside.
At the heart of the dispute is Musk’s claim that OpenAI has abandoned its original nonprofit mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. A co-founder who left in 2018, Musk is seeking governance changes, including the removal of CEO Sam Altman from the nonprofit board, and the return of certain financial gains linked to Altman and President Greg Brockman.
OpenAI has firmly rejected these allegations, maintaining that its current hybrid structure, a public-benefit corporation overseen by a nonprofit parent remains true to its long-term goals. The company has also previously accused Musk of anti-competitive behaviour aimed at weakening its leadership.
As the case prepares for a jury trial, this public exchange highlights the deepening rift between two of the most influential figures in the AI revolution and raises broader questions about governance, mission, and power in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence.
In the high-stakes game of AI, it seems the real drama isn’t just inside the models, it’s playing out in courtrooms too.
