Google top India counsel quits in latest departure amid regulatory hurdles: Report

New Delhi: Google's top India counsel, Bijoya Roy, has resigned after 16 months in the role, two sources ⁠said, a high-profile exit in a key ⁠market where the U.S. tech ‌giant is facing ​regulatory hurdles and also lacks a government relations head.

India is crucial for Alphabet's Google since most smartphones in the country run on ​its Android ⁠operating system, even as Apple's share is growing steadily.

Google also faces antitrust cases in India, legal challenges over AI training ⁠and stricter-than-ever ‌content takedown regulations that started applying to tech companies from February.

Roy quit ‌last month for personal reasons to start ⁠her own venture, said one of the sources on Thursday. The ‌two sources declined to be named ‌as the decision is not public.

Google ‌did not respond to a ‌request for comment, while Roy declined to comment.

Last year, Google's head of public policy in India, Sreenivasa ⁠Reddy, quit, ⁠the second departure for that role in around two years. The company has still not filled the role.

In October, Google said it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an ​artificial intelligence data centre in India's southern ​state of Andhra ​Pradesh, its biggest ever investment in the world's most ​populous nation.