Chaya Nayak: The Indian-Origin AI Expert Who Quit Meta To Join OpenAI

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta continues to grapple with the exits of senior staff. The latest name to depart the Facebook parent is Indian-origin AI specialist Chaya Nayak. She has left the social media giant after nearly a decade to join OpenAI. According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Nayak began her new role in August as part of OpenAI's Special Initiatives team.

Nine-Year Stint At Meta

Ms Nayak worked at Facebook for almost nine years. It was later rebranded Meta. She held various influential roles, according to her LinkedIn profile. Most recently, she was the director of product management for generative AI from May 2023 to August 2025. In this role, she saw the development of multiple generations of the company's Llama model. Before that, she headed the Open Research & Transparency team between June 2018 and May 2023. From October 2016 to June 2018, Ms Nayak headed data for good, where she led initiatives that used data to support global communities.

Education

Ms Nayak holds a Master of Public Policy and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor's degree in Global Studies. There, her specialisation was in security, peace studies and Spanish. Ms Nayak also studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Chaya Nayak's Farewell Note

In a LinkedIn post announcing her move, she looked back on her nearly 10-year journey at Meta, describing it as "the most pivotal experiences of my life."

She recalled joining Facebook to help launch the Data for Good initiative, which she said began as "a bold experiment" but grew into the foundation of her career. Over the years, she worked on projects such as Disaster Maps to support communities in crisis and led the Facebook Open Research and Transparency (FORT) team, navigating complex issues like data privacy and clean rooms.

She highlighted her role during the US 2020 elections, co-authoring research on Meta's impact on democracy, and more recently, contributing to three generations of Llama and Meta AI. Reflecting on this period, she said the experience taught her "confidence, boldness to chase audacious ideas, and resilience when things didn't go as planned." Looking ahead, Ms Nayak said she was "excited for what's ahead" as she joins OpenAI to work with Irina Kofman on Special Initiatives, calling it "the perfect next chapter."

Talent Drain At Mark Zuckerberg's Meta

Meta's ambitious push into "superintelligence" is facing setbacks, according to a report in Business Insider. Less than two months after Mark Zuckerberg launched Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), at least eight employees have quit. The exits include veterans behind Meta's core AI systems as well as recent recruits drawn by Zuckerberg's vision.