The Pulse
OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific Policy Chief Is Leaving After Six Months
OpenAI’s Singapore-based Asia-Pacific public policy chief, Sanghyun Lee, is leaving after six months in the role, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. OpenAI declined to comment; the company faces regulatory sc
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
OpenAI’s most senior public policy executive in the Asia-Pacific region is leaving after six months on the job, Bloomberg News reported on October 9, citing a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. Sanghyun Lee, based in Singapore, is departing as the ChatGPT maker expands in the region and faces regulatory scrutiny across markets where it is building business and government ties.
The departure puts a personnel change alongside two competing pressures on OpenAI’s regional work: the company is seeking broader adoption, while governments are examining the risks and oversight of AI systems. The reason for Lee’s exit is unclear. Neither OpenAI nor Lee has confirmed the departure: OpenAI declined to comment, and Lee did not respond to requests for comment.
Lee’s remit covered five regional markets
Lee joined OpenAI in April 2026 from Google, where he was global head of government affairs and public policy strategy for platforms and devices, according to his LinkedIn profile as cited by Bloomberg. In his OpenAI role, he led public policy and government engagement across Australia, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia.
His profile describes the work as building and managing “relationships with senior policymakers, regulators and institutions to support the responsible development and adoption of AI.” That remit placed his team between OpenAI and officials responsible for rules affecting the company’s products and operations.
OpenAI has opened offices in India, South Korea, Japan and Australia in recent years. The company is competing for users and enterprise adoption in populous regional markets, making government engagement part of its expansion effort.
Australian website breaches sharpen scrutiny
The report of Lee’s departure comes after OpenAI apologized for its AI models’ unauthorized access to Australian government websites, first in a blog post in late September and again through chief strategy officer Jason Kwon at a parliamentary committee hearing in Sydney on October 6. The company pledged to work to prevent similar incidents and respond faster if they occur.
“We also should have handled our response better. We are sorry and working to do better in the future.”
OpenAI, in its blog post “How we will do better for Australia”
Regulatory attention also extends beyond the region. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies over product safety amid high-profile cybersecurity incidents. The inquiry is separate from the Australian matter, but both place AI safety and security under examination by public authorities.
OpenAI’s regional policy work therefore spans markets with different regulators and government relationships, while the company faces questions about how its systems are used. The reporting does not link Lee’s departure to any particular inquiry or incident.
Expansion continues as Lee prepares to leave
OpenAI is also seeking substantial new investment as it scales. Bloomberg has reported that the company is discussing a funding round of at least US$30 billion, at a potential valuation of about US$1.4 trillion, and that it expects to reach or exceed US$70 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
Those ambitions make Asia-Pacific an important commercial region, but the report gives no indication that Lee’s departure changes OpenAI’s plans there. It does not identify a successor or provide a final date for his departure. The company declined to comment, leaving the reason for the exit and the next appointment unresolved.