OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer Fidji Simo is stepping back from her role due to health-related reasons, the company confirmed. Simo, a former Meta executive who joined OpenAI in July 2023, will transition to an advisory position.
The announcement, made via a post on the social platform X, stated Simo is taking a step back "for health reasons." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his support, noting she will remain a close advisor. Simo herself stated she looks forward to continuing to support OpenAI's mission in her new capacity.
Her departure from the COO role comes at a critical time for the AI leader. Simo was a key figure in OpenAI's operational scaling and its broader product strategy, including the rollout of ChatGPT and the development of its enterprise offerings. The company has not yet named a permanent successor, stating that other members of the leadership team will assume her responsibilities in the interim.
This move follows a period of significant executive turnover at OpenAI, including the high-profile departure of co-founder Ilya Sutskever earlier this year. Simo's background in leading major product divisions at Meta, including Facebook and the Facebook App, brought considerable consumer tech expertise to OpenAI's operations.