OpenAI Appoints New CEO Who Reports Directly to Altman

Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is set to join OpenAI as the Chief Executive Officer of Applications, the creator of ChatGPT announced on Thursday. Simo, who is already a member of OpenAI's board, will transition from Instacart over the next few months and begin working full-time at the AI company later this year.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that he will remain in his current role, overseeing areas such as research, computing, and applications. Simo will report directly to Altman.

The applications division brings together a group of existing business and operational teams responsible for how our research benefits the world. "Fidji is uniquely qualified to lead this team. As a board member of OpenAI over the past year, Fidji has made significant contributions to our company. She will transition from her role at Instacart over the coming months and join OpenAI later this year," Altman wrote in a blog post.

Simo will also assist OpenAI in expanding its "traditional" corporate functions, Altman noted, though he did not provide further details.

Simo brings years of experience in product management and monetization. Before joining Instacart in 2021, she spent over a decade at Meta, where she led the launch of News Feed ads, oversaw the monetization of the Facebook app, managed product development for Facebook Video, and helped build its advertising business. She left Meta as the head of the Facebook app. After joining Instacart, she helped take the company public in 2023.

In a post on X, Simo said she would continue to serve as the chair of Instacart’s board. In a letter to Instacart employees, she mentioned that a current member of the company’s leadership team would succeed her as CEO, with an announcement expected soon.

"Joining OpenAI at this pivotal moment is an incredible privilege and responsibility. This organization has the potential to accelerate human potential at an unprecedented pace, and I am deeply committed to steering these applications toward the public good," she said in a statement.