Key Takeaways
- Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is set to join OpenAI as CEO of Applications.
- Simo, already an OpenAI board member, will transition from Instacart over the next few months.
- She will report directly to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and oversee how AI research reaches the public.
- Simo will remain Chair of Instacart’s board, and a new Instacart CEO will be announced soon.
Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart, is taking on a new major role at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. She will become the CEO of Applications, OpenAI announced.
Simo, who has served on OpenAI’s board for the past year, will gradually step down from her duties at Instacart. She’s expected to join OpenAI full-time later this year.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed he will stay in his current role, focusing on areas like research and computing. Simo will report to him, leading the group responsible for bringing OpenAI’s research to the world.
In a blog post, Altman praised Simo’s qualifications, stating she’s uniquely suited for the position and has already made significant contributions as a board member. He added that Simo will also help expand standard company operations, though further details weren’t provided.
According to TechCrunch, key executives including COO Brad Lightcap, CFO Sarah Friar, and CPO Kevin Weil are expected to report to Simo in her new capacity.
Simo brings a wealth of experience in product management and monetization. Before her time at Instacart, which she joined in 2021 and led through its public offering in 2023, she spent over a decade at Meta.
At Meta, her accomplishments included leading the launch of ads on the News Feed, heading monetization for the Facebook app, overseeing product development for Facebook Video, and helping build its advertising business. She left Meta as the head of the Facebook app.
Simo shared on X that she will continue as Chair of Instacart’s board. In a message to Instacart employees, she mentioned that a current member of the company’s management will succeed her as CEO, with an announcement expected shortly.
“Joining OpenAI at this critical moment is an incredible privilege and responsibility,” Simo said in a statement. “This organization has the potential of accelerating human potential at a pace never seen before and I am deeply committed to shaping these applications toward the public good.”
