OpenAI Executive Fidji Simo Steps Down to Prioritise Health Recovery
Fidji Simo, a prominent executive at OpenAI, announced on Wednesday that she is leaving her full-time role to become an advisor, citing the need to focus on recovery from a chronic illness.
Simo, who joined the company behind ChatGPT in mid-2025 as CEO of Applications and became a key lieutenant to Chief Executive Sam Altman, shared the decision in a post on X. She stated that three months of medical leave made it clear her recovery would take far longer and be more complex than initially anticipated.
“I am only making this decision now because I failed to make it many times before,” she wrote, revealing that over seven years of illness, she had repeatedly ignored advice to slow down.
The 40-year-old French-American executive has been on medical leave since April due to a severe flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a neuroimmune condition she has lived with since 2019.
Her departure adds to a series of senior leadership changes at OpenAI, which has experienced significant executive turnover in recent years and has filed for a high-stakes initial public offering (IPO).
Simo reflected on her journey from a fishing family in the Mediterranean port of Sete to the top ranks of Silicon Valley, acknowledging that the same drive that propelled her career also made stepping back extraordinarily difficult. “I grew up believing that opportunities were precious and that when they appeared, you grabbed them with both hands,” she wrote. “OpenAI in particular felt like a role that my entire career had been building toward.”
Before joining OpenAI, Simo led grocery delivery platform Instacart to profitability after becoming its CEO in 2021. Prior to that, she spent a decade at Meta, where she championed the company's pivot to video.
Despite leaving her full-time position, Simo indicated she remains deeply invested in artificial intelligence's potential to transform healthcare. She will continue contributing to OpenAI as an advisor.
Altman expressed his sentiments on X: “I am really sad about this and very grateful for all Fidji has done for OpenAI, and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person. We all wish her the best for a speedy recovery. This sucks.”
