Fidji Simo steps down from full-time OpenAI role amid chronic illness

Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications and the company’s second-ranking executive, said on July 9, 2026 that she is leaving her full-time role to become a part-time advisor, citing a chronic illness. The change removes one of the most senior operators from the team building OpenAI’s consumer and enterprise products.

Simo said the exit follows a severe flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic neuroimmune condition she has lived with for seven years. She has been on medical leave since April 2026, and said her recovery has proven slower and more difficult than she anticipated.

Simo joined OpenAI’s board in 2024 and became CEO of Applications in May 2025, arriving from Instacart, where she was chief executive and chair. In the applications role she oversaw much of OpenAI’s commercial operation: Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar and Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil all reported to her.

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said he was “really sad about this and very grateful for all fidji has done for openai.”

Product strategy had already shifted to President Greg Brockman, who has been overseeing it during Simo’s medical leave, and that arrangement now continues without a full-time applications chief in place. OpenAI has not said whether it will fill the role permanently or fold its responsibilities into Brockman’s remit.