OpenAI Loses No. 2 Executive Fidji Simo to Health Challenges
Fidji Simo, OpenAI's No. 2 executive, is stepping down from her full-time role and transitioning to a part-time advisory position. Simo, who has been on medical leave since April due to a relapse of a neuroimmune condition, says the recovery proves longer and more difficult than expected. CEO Sam Altman responds to the news on X, calling the situation difficult and expressing gratitude for Simo's contributions and friendship.
Simo joined OpenAI in May 2025 as CEO of Applications, a role that consolidates the company's business and product operations under one leader. Her arrival brings significant restructuring, with top executives across operations, finance, and product all reporting to her while Altman focuses on research, compute, and safety. Prior to OpenAI, Simo leads Instacart through its 2023 IPO and spends over a decade at Meta running the Facebook app.
Her departure creates a leadership vacuum just as OpenAI eyes a potential IPO and grapples with cooling ChatGPT growth that falls short of internal revenue targets. The company increasingly leans into coding tools, an area where it currently trails competitor Anthropic. The announcement coincides with the launch of OpenAI's new GPT-5.6 model family and ChatGPT Work agent, marking a pivotal moment for the AI giant.